Douglas Wilkie

Douglas Wilkie (1909 – 10 April 2002) was an Australian journalist, a respected columnist for The Sun News-Pictorial.

Douglass Wilkie
Born1909 (1909)
Died10 April 2002 (aged 92–93)
OccupationNewspaper journalist
Parents

History

The son of travelling Shakespearean actors Allan Wilkie and Frediswyde Hunter-Watts, he began his newspaper career as a copy boy with the Hobart Mercury. This period was followed by Keith Murdoch appointing him as Geelong correspondent for The Herald.

By 1935 he was a foreign correspondent for The Herald in China, reporting on the Japanese "consolidation" of Manchukuo as the White Russians departed west.[1] In 1942 he was in Singapore, reporting for the Adelaide Advertiser on the Japanese invasion,[2] followed by Rangoon, Delhi,[3] and London,[4] from where he reported on the Blitz and the Invasion of Europe.[5] He was in Berlin to report on the Occupation[6] and the post-war shortages. Around this time he was condemned in the Catholic press for criticising General MacArthur, for favoring peace with Russia and recognition of China, and preferring Moslem values to Christian.[7]

Wilkie is best remembered for his regular political commentary for The Sun News-Pictorial which he wrote during 1946–1986. His columns were syndicated across Australia,[8][9] in Adelaide as "As I See It".[10]

He was notoriously critical of Melbourne's obsession with Australian rules football. The Douglas Wilkie Medal, a mock award of the Anti-Football League, was named in his honour.

References
  1. "Tragedy of "Paris of the Far East"". The Herald (Melbourne). No. 18, 158. Victoria, Australia. 27 July 1935. p. 18. Retrieved 11 March 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. "Singapore Can Take It, Too". The Advertiser (Adelaide). South Australia. 20 January 1942. p. 6. Retrieved 11 March 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. "Congress's Decision Next Week". The Advertiser (Adelaide). Vol. LXXXV, no. 26154. South Australia. 1 August 1942. p. 6. Retrieved 11 March 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. "Mysterious Secret of the English". The Advertiser (Adelaide). Vol. LXXXVI, no. 26559. South Australia. 18 November 1943. p. 2. Retrieved 11 March 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. "Avalanche of Tanks". The Advertiser (Adelaide). Vol. LXXXVII, no. 26769. South Australia. 20 July 1944. p. 1. Retrieved 11 March 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. "Yesterday At Your Throat; Today At Your Feet". The Advertiser (Adelaide). Vol. LXXXVII, no. 26962. South Australia. 3 March 1945. p. 6. Retrieved 11 March 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. "This Week's Round-up". The Southern Cross (South Australia). Vol. LXII, no. 3138. South Australia. 27 October 1950. p. 6. Retrieved 11 March 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. "Press Waking Up". The Southern Cross (South Australia). Vol. VLII, no. 2881. South Australia. 12 October 1945. p. 6. Retrieved 11 March 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. "Wilkie Aids War Mongers". The Workers Star. No. 162. Western Australia. 20 September 1946. p. 4. Retrieved 11 March 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  10. "As I See It". The Advertiser (Adelaide). South Australia. 30 May 1946. p. 6. Retrieved 11 March 2021 – via National Library of Australia.

Sources
  • Obituary, Herald Sun, 11 April 2002.
  • Obituary, The Age, 18 April 2002.


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