David Johnston (newsreader)
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David Johnston (Born. Jan 14, 1941) is a retired Australian television newsreader. Johnston, known as DJ to hundreds of thousands of viewers and colleagues, read his last bulletin on Seven on September 23, 2005. He and wife Eve retired in a property at Bendigo to enjoy country life and be close to their daughter, her husband and their grandchildren.
[edit] Early life and education
After emigrating from Wales as an 11-year-old with his mother Lillian in 1953, David Johnston settled in Victoria's western districts and later started his secondary education at Terang High School. But his mother soon moved them to Olinda to start a children's holiday home and when that venture failed financially, David had to leave school aged 15 to earn some money. He did various jobs, including working in a nursery and in the middle of it all David realised he wanted to be on radio. With his mother's help, David found the Bill Roberts Radio School in Melbourne and made the journey, sometimes hitchhiking, from Olinda to Ferntree Gully to catch the train into the city.
The radio school regularly sent student tapes to radio stations around the country. David's was one voice on an audition tape sent to 2RG in Griffith, New South Wales and at 17 he secured his first professional radio gig. David spent three years at 2RG and it was in Griffith that he met his future wife, Eve, to whom he later had two daughters, Georgie (born 1971) and Romy (born 1973).
[edit] Radio and T.V. career
In 1962 David had a 15 month stint with 4KQ in Brisbane before returning to Melbourne as a general announcer and news presenter on 3DB. Nearly 12 months down the track, Seven News was looking for someone to read the late night news and Dan Webb suggested Johnston at 3DB who showed promise. His first major bulletin was announcing the death of US President John F. Kennedy. David split his time between the closely aligned 3DB and the Seven Network in Melbourne until 1967, when he was appointed full time news reporter and presenter. David held that role for the next 14 years before shocking many people by leaving television to run a newsagency in Elsternwick.
After a three year break he returned to the Rupert Murdoch-owned ATV-0 (later ATV-10) to read the prime time news bulletin with Jana Wendt. David stayed in that role until returning to Seven News in 1996 to present from the same studio where he began back in the 1960s.
After a two-year exile (2001-2), Johnston returned in 2003, fronting a national news bulletin, titled "Target Iraq", at 4.30pm each weekday afternoon to cover the major story, and to summarise Australian news from Sydney. When the strike on Iraq concluded, Seven decided it would keep the bulletin, with the bulletin moving to Melbourne, with DJ continuing at the healm until his retirement in 2005.
He has won various awards, including a Logie and two Penguin awards.
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