Four Corners (TV series)
Encyclopedia
Four Corners is Australia's longest-running investigative journalism
/current affairs
television program. Broadcast on ABC1
in Australia, it premiered on 19 August 1961 and is still running. Founding producer Robert Raymond
(1961–62) and his successor Allan Ashbolt
(1963) did much to set the ongoing tone of the program.
Based on the Panorama
concept, the program addresses a single issue in depth each week, showing either a locally produced program or a relevant documentary
from overseas. The program has won many awards for investigative journalism, and broken many high-profile stories. A notable early example of this was the show's epoch-making 1962 exposé on the appalling living conditions endured by many Aboriginal Australians
living in rural New South Wales
.
Neville Wran
had tried to influence the magistry over the dropping of fraud charges against Kevin Humphries
, charged with misappropriation of funds from the Balmain Leagues Club
. Wran stood down and the Street Royal Commission, headed by Justice Lawrence Street
, was set up to inquire into this matter. Street exonerated Wran of all allegations laid against him.
Together with articles in The Courier-Mail
, a 1987 Four Corners story entitled "The Moonlight State" reported on police corruption
in Queensland
. The subsequent royal commission
, known as the Fitzgerald Inquiry
, found systematic corruption in various levels of government and led to the gaoling of police commissioner Terry Lewis
, and the resignation and subsequent criminal trial of Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen
.
The program has investigated other cases of corruption in the New South Wales and Victorian police forces.
Another memorable report from 1985 helped to reveal that the French secret service
had been responsible for the bombing of the Rainbow Warrior
.
A 2006 episode titled "Greenhouse Mafia
", exposes the influence of the fossil fuel lobby on Australian climate change
policy.
In March 2009 an episode aired entitled "The Dishonouring of Marcus Einfeld" which detailed the events leading up to the first conviction and sentencing of an Australian Judge, Marcus Einfeld
( former Australian Federal Court Judge). Einfeld was convicted for various charges including perjury and perverting the course of justice.
"The Code of Silence" aired 11 May 2009 was an investigative report on the attitudes towards and the treatment of women by National Rugby League
players. The report focused primarily on two incidents involving NRL players and women who feel they have had been exploited sexually. The mainstream media reported heavily on the subject for a number of weeks following the airing of "The Code of Silence".
The Four Corners website has also won multiple awards, including two Walkley Awards and three AIMIA Awards for its Broadband Editions of the programs, which include exclusive interviews, analysis and background information on selected programs.
On Monday, 8 March 2010, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
aired a program shedding light on ex-members of the controversial Church of Scientology
, many speaking of abuse and other inhumane treatment, for example coerced abortions and disconnection. The program was of note due to Church spokesperson Tommy Davis "categorically [denying]" all allegations put forward by ex-members. His interview, as well as uncut interviews with two Australian ex-members, transcripts and resources about the program can be viewed in full on the Four Corners official website. The entire episode was made available to watch online from 9 March 2010. All interviews were conducted by Four Corners journalist Quentin McDermott, and aired the same week that a Parliamentary vote was held for an inquiry into the Church after South Australian Senator Nick Xenophon brought Church abuse to light in November 2009.
On Monday, 30 May 2011, the program aired an exposé on the cruelty inflicted onto Australian cattle exported to Indonesia
n abattoirs.
As a result, there was a major public outcry at the practices and a petition launched by activist group GetUp! received more than 10,000 signatures overnight. This petition has now received over 200,000 signatures.
The next day, independent MP Andrew Wilkie
and independent Senator Nick Xenophon
lobbied hard for an immediate ban on live export to Indonesia, which was backed by the Federal Minister for Agriculture, Joe Ludwig
. There was an immediate ban on the abattoirs featured in the Four Corners program, which was followed by a six month ban on all live trade to Indonesia.
Investigative journalism
Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, often involving crime, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years researching and preparing a report. Investigative journalism...
/current affairs
Current affairs (news format)
Current Affairs is a genre of broadcast journalism where the emphasis is on detailed analysis and discussion of news stories that have recently occurred or are ongoing at the time of broadcast....
television program. Broadcast on ABC1
ABC1
ABC1 was a United Kingdom based television channel from Disney using the branding of the Disney owned American network, ABC.The channel initially launched exclusively on the British digital terrestrial television platform Freeview on 27 September 2004. On 10 December 2004 it was launched on...
in Australia, it premiered on 19 August 1961 and is still running. Founding producer Robert Raymond
Robert Raymond
Robert Alwyn "Bob" Raymond OAM was an Australian Logie Award winning producer, director, writer, filmmaker and journalist...
(1961–62) and his successor Allan Ashbolt
Allan Ashbolt
Allan Campbell Ashbolt was an Australian journalist and television broadcaster.He was born in Melbourne and attended Caulfield Grammar School, and served with the Australian Imperial Force in World War II...
(1963) did much to set the ongoing tone of the program.
Based on the Panorama
Panorama (TV series)
Panorama is a BBC Television current affairs documentary programme, which was first broadcast in 1953, and is the longest-running public affairs television programme in the world. Panorama has been presented by many well known BBC presenters, including Richard Dimbleby, Robin Day, David Dimbleby...
concept, the program addresses a single issue in depth each week, showing either a locally produced program or a relevant documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
from overseas. The program has won many awards for investigative journalism, and broken many high-profile stories. A notable early example of this was the show's epoch-making 1962 exposé on the appalling living conditions endured by many Aboriginal Australians
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
living in rural New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
.
Notable episodes
In 1983, Four Corners aired allegations that former NSW PremierPremiers of New South Wales
The Premier of New South Wales is the head of government in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Government of New South Wales follows the Westminster system, with a Parliament of New South Wales acting as the legislature...
Neville Wran
Neville Wran
Neville Kenneth Wran, AC, CNZM, QC was the Premier of New South Wales from 1976 until 1986. He was National President of the Australian Labor Party from 1980 to 1986 and Chairman of both the Lionel Murphy Foundation and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation from 1986...
had tried to influence the magistry over the dropping of fraud charges against Kevin Humphries
Kevin Humphries
Kevin John Humphries is an Australian politician and National Party of Australia member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly. He has represented the Barwon since 24 March 2007...
, charged with misappropriation of funds from the Balmain Leagues Club
Balmain Tigers
The Balmain Tigers are a rugby league football club based in the inner-western Sydney suburb of Balmain. They were a founding member of the New South Wales Rugby League and one of the most successful in the history of the premiership, with eleven titles...
. Wran stood down and the Street Royal Commission, headed by Justice Lawrence Street
Laurence Street
Sir Laurence Whistler Street AC, KCMG, QC is an Australian jurist and former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New South Wales.-Family:...
, was set up to inquire into this matter. Street exonerated Wran of all allegations laid against him.
Together with articles in The Courier-Mail
The Courier-Mail
The Courier-Mail is a daily newspaper published in Brisbane, Australia. Owned by News Limited, it is published daily from Monday to Saturday in tabloid format. Its editorial offices are located at Bowen Hills, in Brisbane's inner northern suburbs, and it is printed at Murarrie, in Brisbane's...
, a 1987 Four Corners story entitled "The Moonlight State" reported on police corruption
Police corruption
Police corruption is a specific form of police misconduct designed to obtain financial benefits, other personal gain, or career advancement for a police officer or officers in exchange for not pursuing, or selectively pursuing, an investigation or arrest....
in Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
. The subsequent royal commission
Royal Commission
In Commonwealth realms and other monarchies a Royal Commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue. They have been held in various countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Saudi Arabia...
, known as the Fitzgerald Inquiry
Fitzgerald Inquiry
The Fitzgerald Inquiry into Queensland Police corruption was a judicial inquiry presided over by Tony Fitzgerald QC. The inquiry resulted in the deposition of a premier, two by-elections, the jailing of three former ministers and a police commissioner who was jailed and lost his...
, found systematic corruption in various levels of government and led to the gaoling of police commissioner Terry Lewis
Terry Lewis (police commissioner)
Terence Murray "Terry" Lewis is a former Queensland, Australia police commissioner who was convicted and jailed for corruption as a result of the Fitzgerald Inquiry. He was stripped of his knighthood and other honours and awards in consequence.In 1976 Lewis was promoted from obscurity to the rank...
, and the resignation and subsequent criminal trial of Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen
Joh Bjelke-Petersen
Sir Johannes "Joh" Bjelke-Petersen, KCMG , was an Australian politician. He was the longest-serving and longest-lived Premier of Queensland, holding office from 1968 to 1987, a period that saw considerable economic development in the state...
.
The program has investigated other cases of corruption in the New South Wales and Victorian police forces.
Another memorable report from 1985 helped to reveal that the French secret service
Direction générale de la sécurité extérieure
The General Directorate for External Security is France's external intelligence agency. Operating under the direction of the French ministry of defence, the agency works alongside the DCRI in providing intelligence and national security, notably by performing paramilitary and counterintelligence...
had been responsible for the bombing of the Rainbow Warrior
Rainbow Warrior (1978)
The Rainbow Warrior was a former UK Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food trawler later purchased by the environmental organisation Greenpeace...
.
A 2006 episode titled "Greenhouse Mafia
Greenhouse Mafia
Greenhouse Mafia is allegedly the "in house" name used by Australia’s carbon lobby for itself. It was also the title of a program aired by the ABC on the 13 February 2006 episode of its weekly current affairs program Four Corners....
", exposes the influence of the fossil fuel lobby on Australian climate change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
policy.
In March 2009 an episode aired entitled "The Dishonouring of Marcus Einfeld" which detailed the events leading up to the first conviction and sentencing of an Australian Judge, Marcus Einfeld
Marcus Einfeld
Marcus Richard Einfeld is a retired Australian justice of the Federal Court of Australia and the Supreme Courts of New South Wales, Western Australia and the Australian Capital Territory; a former President of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission; a UNICEF Ambassador for Children; a...
( former Australian Federal Court Judge). Einfeld was convicted for various charges including perjury and perverting the course of justice.
"The Code of Silence" aired 11 May 2009 was an investigative report on the attitudes towards and the treatment of women by National Rugby League
National Rugby League
The National Rugby League is the top league of professional rugby league football clubs in Australasia. The NRL's main competition, called the Telstra Premiership , is contested by sixteen teams, fifteen of which are based in Australia with one based in New Zealand...
players. The report focused primarily on two incidents involving NRL players and women who feel they have had been exploited sexually. The mainstream media reported heavily on the subject for a number of weeks following the airing of "The Code of Silence".
The Four Corners website has also won multiple awards, including two Walkley Awards and three AIMIA Awards for its Broadband Editions of the programs, which include exclusive interviews, analysis and background information on selected programs.
On Monday, 8 March 2010, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
aired a program shedding light on ex-members of the controversial Church of Scientology
Church of Scientology
The Church of Scientology is an organization devoted to the practice and the promotion of the Scientology belief system. The Church of Scientology International is the Church of Scientology's parent organization, and is responsible for the overall ecclesiastical management, dissemination and...
, many speaking of abuse and other inhumane treatment, for example coerced abortions and disconnection. The program was of note due to Church spokesperson Tommy Davis "categorically [denying]" all allegations put forward by ex-members. His interview, as well as uncut interviews with two Australian ex-members, transcripts and resources about the program can be viewed in full on the Four Corners official website. The entire episode was made available to watch online from 9 March 2010. All interviews were conducted by Four Corners journalist Quentin McDermott, and aired the same week that a Parliamentary vote was held for an inquiry into the Church after South Australian Senator Nick Xenophon brought Church abuse to light in November 2009.
On Monday, 30 May 2011, the program aired an exposé on the cruelty inflicted onto Australian cattle exported to Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
n abattoirs.
As a result, there was a major public outcry at the practices and a petition launched by activist group GetUp! received more than 10,000 signatures overnight. This petition has now received over 200,000 signatures.
The next day, independent MP Andrew Wilkie
Andrew Wilkie
Andrew Damien Wilkie is an Australian politician and independent federal member for Denison...
and independent Senator Nick Xenophon
Nick Xenophon
Nicholas "Nick" Xenophon is a South Australian barrister, anti-gambling campaigner and politician. He attended Prince Alfred College, and studied law at the University of Adelaide, attaining his Bachelor of Laws in 1981. Xenophon established and became principal of his own law firm, Xenophon & Co....
lobbied hard for an immediate ban on live export to Indonesia, which was backed by the Federal Minister for Agriculture, Joe Ludwig
Joe Ludwig
Senator the Hon Joseph William Ludwig , Australian politician, has been a member of the Australian Senate for the state of Queensland since July 1999, representing the Australian Labor Party.-Biography:...
. There was an immediate ban on the abattoirs featured in the Four Corners program, which was followed by a six month ban on all live trade to Indonesia.
Comperes
(From Museum of Broadcast Communications)- Michael Charlton, 1961
- Gerald Lyons, 1962–63
- Frank Bennett, 1964
- Robert Moore, 1964
- John Penlington, 1964
- Richard Oxenburgh, 1964
- Robert Moore, 1965–67
- John Temple, 1968
- Mike WilleseeMike WilleseeMichael Willesee is an Australian television presenter.Mike Willesee came to prominence in 1967 as a reporter for the ABC's new nightly current affairs program This Day Tonight , where his aggressive style quickly earned him a reputation as a fearless political interviewer.-Career:Willesee figured...
, 1969–71 - David Flatman, 1971–72
- Caroline JonesCaroline JonesCaroline Jones AO is a distinguished Australian television journalist and social commentator.She joined the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in Canberra in 1963 and later became the first female reporter for This Day Tonight, and then the Four Corners presenter from 1973 to 1981...
, 1973–81 - Andrew OlleAndrew OlleJohn Andrew Durrant Olle , always known as Andrew Olle, was a radio and television presenter on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, beginning his career in 1967 as a news cadet and, until his death, working in a wide variety of programs, including The 7.30 Report, ABC Radio 2BL, Sydney,...
, 1985–94 - Liz JacksonLiz JacksonLiz Jackson is an Australian journalist and former barrister noted for her work on the Four Corners and Media Watch television programs.Jackson grew up in Melbourne, Australia and commenced work with the Australian Broadcasting Centre in 1986...
, 1995–99 - Unpresented 1999-2010
- Kerry O'Brien, 2011-
Producers
(From Museum of Broadcast Communications)- Bob Raymond (1961–62)
- Allan Ashbolt (1963)
- Gerald Lyons (1963)
- John Power (1964)
- Robert Moore (1965–67)
- Sam LipskiSam LipskiSam Lipski AM is a distinguished Australian journalist. He has been editor-in-chief of the Australian Jewish News and has worked as a reporter and columnist for The Age, The Australian, The Bulletin and The Sydney Morning Herald. He was also Washington correspondent for the Jerusalem Post, as well...
(1968) - Allan Martin (1968–72)
- Tony Ferguson (1973)
- Peter Reid (1973–80)
- Paul Davies (1980–81)
- Paul LynehamPaul LynehamPaul Lyneham was an Australian journalist and commentator. Lyneham was born in Melbourne in 1945, growing up there and in Canberra where he graduated from the Australian National University...
(1980–81) - John Penlington (1980–81)
- John Temple (1980–81)
- Jonathon Holmes (1982–84)
- Peter Manning (1985–88)
- Ian Macintosh (1989–90)
- Marian Wilkinson (1991–92)
- Ian Carroll (1992–95)
- Harry Bardwell (1995)
- Paul Williams (1995)
- John Budd (1995–96)
- Bruce Belsham (1996–2007)