Peter Meakin

Peter Jeremy Meakin (born 12 October 1942) is an English Australian journalist who has worked as news/current affairs director for all three of Australia's commercial television networks (Nine Network, Seven Network and Network Ten).

Peter Meakin
Born
Peter James Meakin

(1942-10-12) October 12, 1942
Castleford, West Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom
Occupation(s)TV network News/Current Affairs Director, journalist
Known forAssociation with TV networks: Nine Network, Seven Network, Ten Network

Early life

Meakin was born in Castleford, West Yorkshire, England in 1942. His family emigrated to Australia where he attended St Peter's College, Adelaide.[1]

Career

Meakin joined the Nine Network in 1973, where he worked for thirty years, eventually becoming director of current affairs in 1987 and the head of news and current affairs in 1993;[2] he was credited with the ratings success of programs including Sunday, 60 Minutes and A Current Affair.[3] He was awarded a Walkley Award for leadership in journalism in 2002.[4]

In April 2003, Meakin left the Nine Network acrimoniously to join the rival Seven Network, where former Nine managing director David Leckie had taken on the reins.[5] There, he was instrumental in lifting Seven's news ratings on the east coast, and by 2007, Seven News had become the top-rating news service in each of the five major capital cities in Australia.[6]

In November 2012, Meakin resigned as director of news and current affairs of the Seven Network after nine years in the position with Rob Raschke named as his successor. Meakin remained with the network in an advisory role for some time.[7]

In February 2014, Meakin was poached by Network Ten to become their Executive Director of News and Current Affairs.[8] He held the position until 2016, when he became news executive consultant, advising on the News at 5pm and The Project. As per February 2018 he was back in charge of Network Ten news and current affairs.

Controversy

Meakin's decision to expose the secret gay life of a New South Wales government minister, David Campbell, on the Seven Network raised the ire of the general public with controversial reasons to "out him" in the public interest.[9]

Drink driving

Meakin was subject to considerable media criticism following three serious drink driving offences committed in 2006 and 2007, resulting in a licence suspension of eight years.[10][11][12] Although he lost a District Court appeal against his third conviction for dangerous driving, he had his original sentence, 14 months of weekend detention, reduced to 250 hours of community service.[13]

References
  1. Who's Who in Australia 2016, ConnectWeb, 2016.
  2. Idato, Michael; Saville, Margot (11 February 2003). "Ray's back, but Nine's at sixes and sevens". The Age. Retrieved 20 November 2007.
  3. Media Watch 2000
  4. Idato, Michael; Saville, Margot (11 February 2003). "Nine chief joins enemy". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 20 November 2007.
  5. AM – Peter Meakin changes channel
  6. "How Seven trumped Nine". Melbourne: The Age. 14 June 2007. Archived from the original on 6 August 2009. Retrieved 27 June 2007.
  7. "Seven news director Peter Meakin resigns". The Courier. 27 November 2012. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  8. Knox, David (7 February 2014). "News boss quits TEN". TV Tonight. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
  9. Moore, Matthew (24 May 2010). "Politicians' private lives in the media's sights". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 24 May 2010.
  10. King, David (18 January 2007). "TV chief pleads guilty to drink driving". The Australian. Retrieved 21 May 2010.
  11. "Meakin gets weekend jail". The Sydney Morning Herald. 31 May 2007. Retrieved 21 May 2010.
  12. Stewart, John (31 May 2007). "Channel 9 revels in Meakin sentence". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 21 May 2010.
  13. Arlington, Kim (18 December 2007). "Boozy TV boss Peter Meakin dodges jail time". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 21 May 2010.


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