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Peter Meakin reacts to the passing of 60 Minutes producer Gerald Stone, aged 87

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In the history of Australian TV, Gerald Stone will always be considered a legend. His passing is a reminder of the importance television has played in our lives and the legacy he left us.

Gerald Stone regarded 60 Minutes as his baby – Peter Meakin

As the founding Executive Producer of 60 Minutes, Gerald Stone took an American franchise but tailored it for the Australian market. He created stars who would often become the story themselves.

His passion for the industry was laid bare for all to see in his book Who Killed Channel 9. Years after he had left the network he still believed in the industry and specifically what channel 9 had created. His book was not meant to kick the network while it was down, but make sure it remembered what had been built and put a fire up its belly.

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News great Peter Meakin worked with Stone for many decades and the two were good friends. I spoke with Peter this morning and, as it turns out, was the person to break the news to him.

Straight away there was genuine sadness in his voice as he spoke of his friend:

“It’s a sad day” Meakin reflected.

“Gerald was the architect of 60 Minutes in Australia. He regarded it as his baby, he was immensely proud of it. He was a professional man.

“The program wouldn’t have started without him I suspect, or if it had started without him it wouldn’t have lasted,

“I feel sorry for Irene, his wife.”

Nine CEO Hugh Marks has issued this note to staff:

Colleagues,

It’s with great sadness that I share with all of you today the news of the passing of Nine legend and Australian media industry giant Gerald Stone.

Gerald occupies a lofty pedestal in Nine’s history and a profound place in our hearts.

He was famously of course the ‘father’ and founder of 60 Minutes in Australia in 1979 – which under his remarkable leadership became a juggernaut of Australian television. 

With its great story telling and high production values 60 Minutes changed the way we watched television, and launched scores of now celebrated careers. 

First amongst them Ray Martin, George Negus and Ian Leslie, quickly followed by, a then largely unknown, Jana Wendt.  Gerald transformed them into household names – and they became his lifelong friends – with countless others to follow. 

And he crafted 60 Minutes into a tour de force which four decades later remains an ongoing testament to Gerald’s capacity to produce great content through his sheer good instincts about stories, the people he chose to tell them, his gimlet eye for angles and detail and his uncanny ability to make it so relatable to a huge audience.

There’s been an army of tremendously talented people in Australian television since its arrival in 1956, but none with more impact than Gerald Stone. 

In 1967 Gerald joined the fledgling ABC program This Day Tonight which pioneered a dramatic new recognition & treatment of public affairs reporting in Australia. 

There he cut his teeth with a bunch of other talented young reporters and presenters about to make famous names for themselves – among them Mike Willesee, Bill Peach, Caroline Jones, Richard Carleton , George Negus, Peter Luck and Mike Carlton.

In his astonishing career Gerald was later to serve at the Bulletin as Editor, Director of Current Affairs at the Seven Network, Rupert Murdoch’s Fox Network and in senior positions as an SBS director and deputy chairman in more recent times.

On top of all of that Gerald became a prolific and best-selling author with his engaging style, detail and colour.

Gerald Stone was deeply respected and much admired by everyone with whom he came into close contact.  His raw American accent never left him, nor his warmth, humility and charm. But he was also a feisty character who  gave as good as he got, especially in the odd colourful disagreement over programming decisions with Kerry Packer – a feat in itself.

And Gerald generously always rejoiced in the success of others – in recent years shedding tears when 60 Minutes was inducted into the Logies Hall of Fame. 

His own tremendous body of work was so accurately recognised in the 2015 Australia Day awards when Gerald received an AM for ‘significant service to print and broadcast media as a journalist, television producer and author’

Something of an understatement.

On behalf of everyone at Nine, past and present, I have conveyed our profound condolences on Gerald’s passing to his wife Irene – herself a long-time friend of the Network through her outstanding involvement in the delivery of World Series Cricket and what followed in our sustained coverage over so many years.

Gerald is survived by Irene, his two children, Klay and Jennifer, and two grandchildren Louis and Gina.

To salute all that Gerald Stone meant at Nine and to allow his colleagues and friends to celebrate his remarkable life, we propose to arrange a memorial event – appropriately at our old Willoughby headquarters- in the near future. We’ll advise you all about details soon, naturally the attendance will be limited with current restrictions but we will all be able to watch it on a screen.

Hugh

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Robert McKnight
Robert McKnighthttps://tvblackbox.com.au/robert-mcknight/
"Leading TV commentator" - The Daily Telegraph | "Known for his impeccable sources in the TV industry" - The Daily Mail | "Always first with the correct info" - Beau Ryan | Robert McKnight is a highly regarded Australian Television Producer having worked at SEVEN, NINE and TEN during his 30 years in the industry. Currently Rob can be seen every fortnight on THE MORNING SHOW (7) and heard on NIGHTS WITH JOHN STANLEY (2GB/4BC). He is also a producer on 7 NEWS SPOTLIGHT.
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