Michael Gawenda

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Michael Gawenda is an Australian journalist and was editor of The Age from 1997 to 2004.

He was born in a refugee camp in Austria just after the end of the Second World War. His family moved to Melbourne, Australia in 1949, where he attended a state school. He studied economics and politics at a university.[1]

He started his career in 1970, joining The Age as a cadet journalist. In 1997 he became an editor and in 2003 the editor-in-chief. During this time he became the subject of controversy when he rejected a Michael Leunig cartoon which expressed the view that peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict could only be achieved through military means with the Nazi slogan on the gates of Auschwitz, "Arbeit macht frei" (Work makes you free). He said "I think it’s just inappropriate. Anyone seeing that cartoon would think it inappropriate."[2]

In 2004 The Age supported John Howard's Liberal Party in the legislative election. Website Crikey.com claimed that this was in response to pressure from The Age's owners, John Fairfax Holdings Ltd.[3] In an interview with Jon Faine on 774 ABC Melbourne, Gawenda vigorously denied the rumours - "It was a lie, Jon. The whole thing was a lie" and claimed that the issue of Fairfax's connections from the incumbent John Howard government was "never raised, never raised and never discussed, not for a moment and nor would I ever allow that to happen". [4]

On April 15, 2004 he announced that he would return to reporting, as The Age's Washington correspondent.[5]

Gawenda's final article from Washington was published on May 28, 2007 when he announced he will be returning to Australia and no longer writing for "The Age" in the foreseeable future. A book of his time in America titled American Notebook will be published in August 2007. [6]

Gawenda has two children, Evie (1975-) and Chaskiel (1980-). Gawenda is the uncle of television producer and former senior soccer player Harvey Silver. [1]

[edit] Awards

Year Awards Category
1982 Walkley Award Best Feature - "Ghettos in the Sky"
1988 Walkley Award Best Feature - "Echoes of a Darker Age: Australia's Nazi War Crime Trials"

[edit] References

  1. ^ ABC Online, The Media Report transcript, October 23, 1997 (retrieved May 2, 2006)
  2. ^ Media Watch, Lost Leunig, May 6, 2002 (retrieved May 2m 2006)
  3. ^ Crikey.com, Uproar over The Age's election editorial, October 7, 2004 (retrieved May 2, 2006)
  4. ^ Crikey.com, Gawenda responds to Crikey, October 12, 2004 (retrieved May 2, 2006)
  5. ^ Press release (PDF) (retrieved on May 2, 2006)
  6. ^ The Age (PDF) (retrieved on May 28, 2007)