Richard Carleton

This article is about Australian journalist. For English composer, see Richard Carlton.

Richard Carleton
Born	11 July 1943(1943-07-11) Bowral, New South Wales, Australia
Died	7 May 2006(2006-05-07) (aged 62) Beaconsfield, Tasmania, Australia
Education	Sydney Grammar School University of New South Wales.
Occupation	Television current affairs journalist
Spouse(s)	Sharon Carleton
Children	Oliver Carleton, James Carleton, Jenny Carleton
Notable credit(s)	This Day Tonight Tonight The Carleton-Walsh Report 60 Minutes

Richard George Carleton (11 July 1943 – 7 May 2006) was a multi-Logie Award winning Australian television journalist.

Education

Carleton was born in Bowral, New South Wales. He was educated at Sydney Grammar School and graduated from the University of New South Wales.

Television/journalism career

ABC/BBC

In the 1960s he was a reporter on This Day Tonight as well as being the presenter of State of the Nation, both on the ABC. He continued these roles until he left for a role on 2GB Radio in 1976, followed by what began as a lifelong love of travelling and researching overseas, producing films in Indonesia (including being the only journalist to be allowed to visit the newly "integrated" East Timor) and the Middle East.

Carleton joined the BBC in London in 1977 for the Tonight program, before returning to Australia in 1979. During 1986, Carleton was a co-presenter of The Carleton-Walsh Report on the ABC, with financial journalist Max Walsh.

Carleton ran for election in 1983 as the staff representative on the ABC Board. He was defeated by Tom Molomby, who wrote:

"His was a remarkable policy statement, the most blatant demonstration of political cynicism (I cannot believe it was the only other alternative, stupidity) which I have ever seen in an ABC election.".^[1]

Nine Network

In 1987 Carleton began his most famous television journalism role, as a reporter on 60 Minutes. In a career with the program that spanned almost 20 years, he visited many locations around the world investigating political climates. In 2006 he and producer Stephen Rice visited Chernobyl and were given unprecedented access to the sarcophagus built over the ruined nuclear reactor, including a brief visit to the abandoned control room.^[2] Carleton was parodied on the Australian sketch-comedy shows Fast Forward and Comedy Inc. for his perceived over-prominence on 60 Minutes.

In July 2000, the ABC's Media Watch program accused Carleton of plagiarising the BBC documentary A Cry from the Grave. Carleton denied the claims, suing the Australian Broadcasting Corporation for defamation. In 2002 the case was heard and the judge found that while Carleton had "misled his audience by misrepresenting a mass grave site shown in the programme, and that 60 Minutes had copied film directly from the British documentary",^[3] the allegations made by Media Watch were in fact untrue and had defamed Carleton. Carleton was greatly relieved by the ruling.^[4]

Carleton won five Penguin Awards and three Logie Awards during his time with 60 Minutes and at the ABC.

Interview with Bob Hawke

Carleton is probably most famously known for a comment made to the incoming federal Australian Labor Party leader Bob Hawke in 1983: "Mr. Hawke, could I ask you whether you feel a little embarrassed tonight at the blood that's on your hands?" ^[5] which was a reference to the alleged involvement of Hawke in the resignation of former Labor leader, Bill Hayden. The question outraged Hawke, who criticised Carleton for his "damned impertinence".^[6]

Death

Carleton had experienced a number of health scares, the first in 1988 when he underwent heart bypass surgery, which was nationally televised, and another in 2003 when he suffered a heart attack. In 2005 he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.^[7]

On 7 May 2006, Carleton collapsed from a massive heart attack during a press conference at the Beaconsfield gold mine, shortly after questioning mine manager Matthew Gill on previous safety issues at the site.^[8] His last words were: "On 26 October last year, not 10 metres from where these men are now entombed, you had a 400-tonne rock fall. Why is it, is it the strength of the seam, or the wealth of the seam, that you continue to send men into work in such a dangerous environment?".^[9]

First-hand reports from the scene indicated that Carleton had a weak pulse when taken by ambulance to the Launceston General Hospital and that he had been puffing and gasping not long before he collapsed. Carleton died at 2:12 p.m, in the ambulance on the way to hospital.^[10][11]

References

1. ^ Molomby, Tom, Is there a moderate on the roof? ABC Years, William Heinemann Australia, Port Melbourne, 1991, p.163
2. ^ "Inside Chernobyl". 60 Minutes Australia, Nine Network Australia. 16 April 2006. http://video.au.msn.com/watch/video/return-to-chernobyl/xf09iii. 
3. ^ "Media Watch: Richard Carleton". http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/carleton.htm. Retrieved 2006-05-06. 
4. ^ "The World Today". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2002-12-18. http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/stories/s749989.htm. Retrieved 2011-08-09. 
5. ^ "Mr. Hawke how does it feel to have blood on your hands?". http://australianpolitics.com/voting/elections/federal-1983. 
6. ^ Richard Carleton interview with Bob Hawke
7. ^ "Carleton calm about cancer". Melbourne: The Age. 19 March 2006. http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/carleton-calm-about-cancer/2006/03/18/1142582577869.html. 
8. ^ "Veteran reporter Richard Carleton dies at mine site". Nine MSN. http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=99086. 
9. ^ "Journalist Richard Carleton dies". ABC News. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2006-05-07/journalist-richard-carleton-dies/1747538. 
10. ^ "Veteran reporter Richard Carleton dead". Nine MSN. http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=99086. 
11. ^ "TV reporter dies at gold mine". News.com.au. http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,19054809-2,00.html. ^{[dead link]}

External links

• Sixty Minutes - Profile [dead link]

Persondata
Name	Carleton, Richard
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	11 July 1943
Place of birth	Bowral, New South Wales, Australia
Date of death	7 May 2006
Place of death	Beaconsfield, Tasmania, Australia