Mark Colvin

Mark Colvin is an Australian journalist and broadcaster. Based in Sydney, he is the presenter of PM since 1997. PM is one of the flagship Australian radio current affairs programs on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation network.

Family

The Colvin family had a long history of service to Queen and country (and British Empire), both in the military and administration. Mark Colvin is the son of John Horace Ragnar Colvin,^[1] the Cold War diplomat, and the grandson of Admiral Sir Ragnar Colvin, KBE, CB. He is the great-grandson of the India Office mandarin Clement Sneyd Colvin,^[2] whose father was John Russell Colvin. John Russell, son of a East Indies trader, ended up lieutenant-governor of the North-West Provinces of British India during the mutiny of 1857, had ten children and founded a dynasty of Empire-builders. Through this line, Mark Colvin's extended family includes Walter Mytton and Auckland, also lieutenant-governor of the North-West Provinces and Oudh; Brenda (1897–1981),^[3] an important landscape architect, author of standard works in the field and a force behind its professionalisation; and Sidney, a critic, curator, and great friend of Robert Louis Stevenson.

Through his mother, Elizabeth Anne Manifold ^[4], Colvin is the great-nephew of a Prime Minister of Australia, Viscount Bruce of Melbourne, who went on to be an international statesman and the first Chancellor of the Australian National University.^[5] He is also the step-son of Admiral Sir Anthony Synnot.

Career as a journalist and broadcaster

Colvin graduated from Oxford University with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in English literature and arrived in Australia in 1974.^[6] He commenced employment in January 1975 at the ABC's rock music station Double Jay (2JJ, now known as Triple J) as one of the foundation staff,^[7] initially working as a cadet journalist. Whilst a 2JJ, he presented news, conducted interviews and produced current affairs and documentary specials up until 1978. With strong foreign language skills in French, Italian and Spanish,^[6] he was posted to the Canberra bureau and appointed a television news producer. A year later, he was one of the first reporters on Nationwide, along with Jenny Brockie, Paul Murphy and Andrew Olle.^[8]

Aged 28 years, in 1980, Colvin was appointed foreign correspondent in London, and travelled to cover major stories including the American hostage crisis in Tehran and the rise of Solidarity in Poland. During his time covering the Middle East, Colvin was deeply affected by the death of his interpreter, Bahram Dehqani-Tafti, a secular Iranian murdered and dumped outside a Tehran prison. Colvin believed that the mullahs had a dispute with Dehqani-Tafti's father, a Christian bishop in exile in London.^[6] Colvin returned to Australia in 1983 and initially was reporter on both AM and PM, before agitating for the establishment of a midday news and current affairs radio program.^[6] Colvin became the founding presenter of The World Today on ABC radio. The following year, Colvin went to Brussels as Europe correspondent, and covered the events right across the continent as the Cold War began to thaw and the Gorbachev era began the process that would lead to the lifting of the Iron Curtain.^[8]

Between 1988 and 1992, Colvin was a reporter for Four Corners, making programs focused on, inter alia, the French massacre of Kanaks in New Caledonia, the extinction of Australia's fauna and the Cambodian peace process. His feature on the Ethiopian famine won a Gold Medal at the New York Film Festival and was runner-up for an International Emmy Award.^[8] In 1992, Colvin accepted another London posting, this time for television, mainly reporting for Foreign Correspondent, the 7.30 Report and Lateline. His language skills and long European experience paid off in stories such as his series of the relationship between Italian organised crime and government, which culminated in the trial of former Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti.^[8]

In 1994, Colvin was deployed by the 7.30 Report to Africa to cover the unfolding tragedy in Rwanda. Travelling via Zaire, he witnessed the extensive human tragedy there, in which approximately a million refugees were living in excrement and cholera and dysentery had become common-place. Colvin was taken ill with Wegener's granulomatosis, a rare inflammation of blood vessels,^[6] which nearly took his life.^[9] After several months in hospital, during his convalescence he became aware of a side effect of the treatment, his hip joints collapsed and both hips had to be replaced. He spent the next 18 months in Europe.

In 1997 Colvin returned to Sydney and commenced in his current role as presenter for ABC Radio's PM.

Organ donation ambassador

During 2010, Colvin worked to raise the profile of organ donation through interveiws with a number of media agencies including The Sydney Morning Herald,^[6] The Australian,^[9] The Drum,^[10] The 7.30 Report,^[11] and Life Matters.^[12]

References

1. ^ http://blogs.abc.net.au/offair/2009/08/its-not-only-double-agents-who-lead-double-lives.html
2. ^ Australian Dictionary of Biography
3. ^ ONDB
4. ^ http://adbonline.anu.edu.au/biogs/A020167b.htm
5. ^ The forgotten PM, Mark Colvin, ABC Online, 2009-12-09
6. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Hannan, Liz (12 February 2011). "Lunch with ... Mark Colvin". The Sydney Morning Herald (Fairfax Media). http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/lunch-with--mark-colvin-20110211-1aqjt.html#ixzz1MP7wJogt. Retrieved 14 May 2011. 
7. ^ Elder, Bruce; Wales, David (1984). Radio With Pictures! The History of Double Jay AM and JJJ FM. Hale & Ironmonger. pp. 6–7. 
8. ^ ^{a b c d} "Mark Colvin". About PM (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). 2010. http://www.abc.net.au/pm/about.html. Retrieved 14 May 2011. 
9. ^ ^{a b} Jackson, Sally (27 September 2010). "Mark Colvin's personal crisis teaches him Australia is in dire need of organ donors". The Australian (News Limited). http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/mark-colvins-personal-crisis-teaches-him-australia-is-in-dire-need-of-organ-donors/story-e6frg996-1225929704036. Retrieved 14 May 2011. 
10. ^ Colvin, Mark (16 September 2010). "Transplanting our mindset on organ donation". The Drum (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/09/16/3013118.htm. Retrieved 14 May 2011. 
11. ^ Bowden, Tracy (20 September 2010). "Low donor rates put patients at risk". The 7.30 Report (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2010/s3017021.htm. Retrieved 14 May 2011. 
12. ^ Aedy, Richard (27 September 2010). "Mark Colvin on organ donation". Life Matters (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). http://www.abc.net.au/rn/lifematters/stories/2010/3020069.htm. Retrieved 14 May 2011. 

References

• ABC website

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