Adam Walters
Encyclopedia
Adam Walters is an Australia
n journalist and author. He was also a political adviser to former New South Wales Premier, Morris Iemma
.
. In 1985 he moved to Sydney
, working as a reporter and newsreader for radio 2WS, 2CH
and 2 Triple M
. In 1989 he joined The Daily Telegraph
newspaper.
. In 2000, he switched to the Nine Network
, continuing in the role of crime reporter. Walters shared a Logie Award
and Walkley Award
for the Nine News team's coverage of the 2002 Bali bombings. In 2006, Walters became the Nine Network's NSW State Political Correspondent, and went on to earn Walkley and Logie award nominations for most outstanding television news reporting in 2007 after a series of stories which led to the resignation of the NSW Police Minister.
", the 1989 Newcastle earthquake
, the Strathfield massacre
, the Backpacker Murders
in the Belanglo State Forest, the assassination of NSW parliamentarian John Newman
, the abduction and murder of Southern Highlands schoolgirl Ebony Simpson, the Port Arthur massacre, the 1997 Thredbo landslide
, the 1998 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race
tragedy, the 2002 Bali Bombings, the arrest of the Bali Nine
heroin smugglers, European reaction to the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami
, the first murder
on Norfolk Island in 150 years, and the 2009 Black Saturday bush fires in Victoria.
In 2009 an investigation by Walters into the proliferation of illegal brothels in NSW led to the closure of Sydney's biggest. The series of stories exposed the NSW Government's failure to enforce legislation drafted two years earlier to eradicate the illicit sex trade.
By December 2009 an investigation by Walters for The Daily Telegraph exposed the cover-up of child sex abuse at the highest level of Australian swimming. A series of stories followed four months of investigations into a secret police strike force set up after the Sydney Olympic Games to examine multiple child sex abuse allegations against the late Olympic swimming coach Terry Buck
. Several victims came forward to give disturbing, detailed accounts of their suffering. Buck was never charged, despite five months of investigations by Strike Force Solano.
On 20 May 2010, Walters broke a story on Seven News
in Sydney about the resignation of New South Wales Transport and Roads Minister David Campbell. Walters' story was based around hidden camera footage of the Minister leaving a gay sex club in Sydney's eastern suburbs. Walters had confronted Campbell with the footage, and upon being told the story would air, Campbell resigned as Minister an hour prior to the news bulletin. Although former NSW Labor Premier Barrie Unsworth said Campbell's actions were "deplorable" for exposing himself to "blackmail and compromise" the story was criticized by other sections of the media and by politicians, including the Sydney Morning Herald which deemed it "not a good moment for the media coverage of Macquarie Street". The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) ruled Seven's Campbell story was in the public interest After Labor's 2011 election defeat Fairfax Media's Sun-Herald State Political editor reported the Campbell story was a critical setback for former NSW Premier Kristina Keneally.
Walters has co-authored four books, Nightmare on Norfolk, about the murder of Janelle Patton
, and The Accidental Gangster — the Life and Times of Bela Csidei, "The Face Without A Name - Finding Jane Doe" and "Cold Cases."All the books were co-written with fellow crime reporter Norm Lipson. Walters was also a regular contributor to The Bulletin
Magazine.
. He rejoined The Daily Telegraph, becoming the paper's NSW Political Editor before resuming his television career in April 2010, as a senior reporter at Channel Seven
, Sydney.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n journalist and author. He was also a political adviser to former New South Wales Premier, Morris Iemma
Morris Iemma
Morris Iemma , is a former Australian politician and 40th Premier of New South Wales, succeeding Bob Carr after he resigned on 3 August 2005. Iemma led the Australian Labor Party to victory in the 2007 election before resigning as Premier on 5 September 2008, and as a Member of Parliament on 19...
.
Journalistic career
Walters' first job was at The Daily Advertiser, in his home town of Wagga Wagga, New South WalesWagga Wagga, New South Wales
Wagga Wagga is a city in New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, and with an urban population of 46,735 people, Wagga Wagga is the state's largest inland city, as well as an important agricultural, military, and transport hub of Australia...
. In 1985 he moved to Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, working as a reporter and newsreader for radio 2WS, 2CH
2CH
2CH is a commercial radio station in Sydney, Australia, at 1170 kHz AM. It broadcasts an oldies format, and is aimed to an older age demographic...
and 2 Triple M
2MMM
2MMM is a radio station broadcasting in Sydney, Australia. Triple M Sydney is part of the Austereo Triple M network and broadcasts on the 104.9 MHz frequency.-The Early Days:...
. In 1989 he joined The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph (Australia)
The Daily Telegraph is an Australian tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, by Nationwide News, part of News Corporation.The Tele, as it is also known, was founded in 1879. From 1936 to 1972, it was owned by Frank Packer's Australian Consolidated Press. That year it was sold to...
newspaper.
Television journalism
In 1990, Walters made the transition to television, as a crime reporter for the Seven NetworkSeven Network
The Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...
. In 2000, he switched to the Nine Network
Nine Network
The Nine Network , is an Australian television network with headquarters based in Willoughby, a suburb located on the North Shore of Sydney. For 50 years since television's inception in Australia, between 1956 and 2006, it was the most watched television network in Australia...
, continuing in the role of crime reporter. Walters shared a Logie Award
Logie Award
The TV Week Logie Awards are the Australian television industry awards, which have been presented annually since 1959. Renamed by Graham Kennedy in 1960 after he won the first 'Star Of The Year' award, the name 'Logie' awards honours John Logie Baird, a Scotsman who invented the television as a...
and Walkley Award
Walkley Awards
The annual Walkley Awards, under the administration of the Walkley Foundation for Journalism, are presented in Australia to recognise and reward excellence in journalism. Finalists are chosen by an independent board of eminent journalists and photographers. The awards cover all media including...
for the Nine News team's coverage of the 2002 Bali bombings. In 2006, Walters became the Nine Network's NSW State Political Correspondent, and went on to earn Walkley and Logie award nominations for most outstanding television news reporting in 2007 after a series of stories which led to the resignation of the NSW Police Minister.
Major stories
In his 30 years as a news journalist Walters has been on location to file on many major stories including the Anita Cobby murder, the North Shore "Granny KillerJohn Wayne Glover
John Wayne Glover was a British-born Australian serial killer convicted for the murders of six elderly women on Sydney's North Shore....
", the 1989 Newcastle earthquake
1989 Newcastle earthquake
The 1989 Newcastle earthquake was a Richter magnitude 5.6 earthquake that occurred in Newcastle, New South Wales on Thursday, 28 December 1989, at 10:27 am. It was one of Australia's most serious natural disasters, killing 13 people and injuring more than 160...
, the Strathfield massacre
Strathfield Massacre
The Strathfield massacre was a shooting rampage in Sydney, Australia on Saturday, 17 August 1991. The shooter was Wade Frankum, who killed himself as police arrived at the scene. The incident left eight dead and six wounded.-Perpetrator:...
, the Backpacker Murders
Backpacker murders
The Backpacker Murders is a name given to serial killings that occurred in New South Wales, Australia during the 1990s. The bodies of seven missing young people aged 19 to 22 were discovered partly buried in the Belanglo State Forest, south west of the New South Wales town of Berrima...
in the Belanglo State Forest, the assassination of NSW parliamentarian John Newman
John Newman (Australian politician)
John Paul Newman was a member of the New South Wales state parliament and Member for the seat of Cabramatta. He was the first elected politician to be assassinated in Australia.-Early life:...
, the abduction and murder of Southern Highlands schoolgirl Ebony Simpson, the Port Arthur massacre, the 1997 Thredbo landslide
1997 Thredbo landslide
The Thredbo landslide was a catastrophic landslide that occurred at the village and ski resort of Thredbo, New South Wales, Australia, on 30 July 1997. Two ski lodges were destroyed, and a total of 18 died.- Landslide :...
, the 1998 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race
1998 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race
The 1998 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race was the 54th annual running of the "blue water classic" Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. It was hosted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia based in Sydney, New South Wales....
tragedy, the 2002 Bali Bombings, the arrest of the Bali Nine
Bali Nine
The Bali Nine is the name given to a group of nine Australians arrested on 17 April 2005, in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia, in a plan to smuggle of heroin valued at approximately A$4 million from Indonesia to Australia...
heroin smugglers, European reaction to the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake
The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake was an undersea megathrust earthquake that occurred at 00:58:53 UTC on Sunday, December 26, 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The quake itself is known by the scientific community as the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake...
, the first murder
Janelle Patton
Janelle Patton was a 29-year-old Sydney woman who was brutally murdered on Norfolk Island on 31 March 2002. The case made national headlines in Australia and New Zealand, as she was the first person to be murdered there since 1893.-Background:...
on Norfolk Island in 150 years, and the 2009 Black Saturday bush fires in Victoria.
In 2009 an investigation by Walters into the proliferation of illegal brothels in NSW led to the closure of Sydney's biggest. The series of stories exposed the NSW Government's failure to enforce legislation drafted two years earlier to eradicate the illicit sex trade.
By December 2009 an investigation by Walters for The Daily Telegraph exposed the cover-up of child sex abuse at the highest level of Australian swimming. A series of stories followed four months of investigations into a secret police strike force set up after the Sydney Olympic Games to examine multiple child sex abuse allegations against the late Olympic swimming coach Terry Buck
Terry Buck
Terrence William "Terry" Buck was an Australian swimmer and coach. He represented Australia at the 1964 Summer Olympics in the 400m individual medley and placed eighth. He was the first Australian swimmer to first participate at the Olympics as both an athlete and a coach. He was head coach in the...
. Several victims came forward to give disturbing, detailed accounts of their suffering. Buck was never charged, despite five months of investigations by Strike Force Solano.
On 20 May 2010, Walters broke a story on Seven News
Seven News
Seven News is the television news service of the Seven Network in Australia.National bulletins are presented from Seven's high-definition studios in Martin Place, Sydney, while flagship 6pm bulletins are produced in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth. The network also produces Seven...
in Sydney about the resignation of New South Wales Transport and Roads Minister David Campbell. Walters' story was based around hidden camera footage of the Minister leaving a gay sex club in Sydney's eastern suburbs. Walters had confronted Campbell with the footage, and upon being told the story would air, Campbell resigned as Minister an hour prior to the news bulletin. Although former NSW Labor Premier Barrie Unsworth said Campbell's actions were "deplorable" for exposing himself to "blackmail and compromise" the story was criticized by other sections of the media and by politicians, including the Sydney Morning Herald which deemed it "not a good moment for the media coverage of Macquarie Street". The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) ruled Seven's Campbell story was in the public interest After Labor's 2011 election defeat Fairfax Media's Sun-Herald State Political editor reported the Campbell story was a critical setback for former NSW Premier Kristina Keneally.
Walters has co-authored four books, Nightmare on Norfolk, about the murder of Janelle Patton
Janelle Patton
Janelle Patton was a 29-year-old Sydney woman who was brutally murdered on Norfolk Island on 31 March 2002. The case made national headlines in Australia and New Zealand, as she was the first person to be murdered there since 1893.-Background:...
, and The Accidental Gangster — the Life and Times of Bela Csidei, "The Face Without A Name - Finding Jane Doe" and "Cold Cases."All the books were co-written with fellow crime reporter Norm Lipson. Walters was also a regular contributor to The Bulletin
The Bulletin
The Bulletin was an Australian weekly magazine that was published in Sydney from 1880 until January 2008. It was influential in Australian culture and politics from about 1890 until World War I, the period when it was identified with the "Bulletin school" of Australian literature. Its influence...
Magazine.
Politics and return to journalism
In July 2008 he resigned from the Nine Network to work as a communications adviser to New South Wales Premier Morris IemmaMorris Iemma
Morris Iemma , is a former Australian politician and 40th Premier of New South Wales, succeeding Bob Carr after he resigned on 3 August 2005. Iemma led the Australian Labor Party to victory in the 2007 election before resigning as Premier on 5 September 2008, and as a Member of Parliament on 19...
. He rejoined The Daily Telegraph, becoming the paper's NSW Political Editor before resuming his television career in April 2010, as a senior reporter at Channel Seven
Seven Network
The Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...
, Sydney.