Foreign Correspondent

That Was Then This Is Now (21x13)

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Foreign Correspondent was born in 1992 in a rusting tin shed at the ABC television studios at Gore Hill on Sydney’s North Shore. Glamorous, sophisticated, cutting edge – it wasn’t. At least the program aspired to all those things and it succeeded brilliantly, delivering memorable insights into international events and issues through the eyes of people who were directly involved. It looked wonderful. Great storytelling, beautiful cinematography and fine editing became trademarks of the show. Surviving 20 years in the cut-throat business of television is an outstanding achievement. The job of creating Foreign Correspondent was entrusted to Jonathan Holmes, these days best known to ABC audiences as the smiling assassin of journalistic frauds and failures on Media Watch. Back then he was a Four Corners veteran. Holmes recalls, ”I’d been asked to come up with an hour program about foreign affairs using the ABC’s bureaux and that was really the only brief that I had. So we came up with a format. The other decision we had to make was to find someone who could present the program, who would really put it on the map. I think that George Negus was my idea, I’m pretty sure it was. And we we’re thrilled when he when he accepted.”