Paul Ramadge is editor-in-chief of The Age, a daily broadsheet newspaper in Melbourne. Since his appointment in 2008 he has overseen a voluntary redundancy program at the request of Fairfax, the paper's owner, and put in place his own editorial management team.[1]
Early in Ramadge's term as editor, he sacked popular but controversial columnist Catherine Deveny after she made some "offensive" comments and swearing on Twitter. She suggested that 11-year-old Bindi Irwin "should get laid" but explained that she was mocking the sexualisation of young celebrities and also remarked that she hoped the girlfriend of Rove McManus "did not die". McManus's previous partner Belinda Emmett tragically died of cancer. She told Ramadge after the sacking "I was always thought The Age was a brave newspaper." [2]
Ramadge is currently being investigated by Victoria Police in relation to allegations he and his staff illegally accessed the computers of a political party.[3] The searches in the database included the words "lesbian, abortion, corruption, gay, Muslim and privacy." He is expected to be summoned to attend a Parliamentary inquiry into the hacking scandal in 2012. [4]