Interview with Negus

By Chris Beck
March 24, 2005
George Negus talks with Chris Beck.

George Negus talks with Chris Beck.
Photo: Supplied

Sitting in an Italian restaurant, as Dean Martin croons through the overhead speakers and a waiter, who moonlights as a boxing time-keeper, clangs cups on the table, George Negus talks tough with a wounded heart about the dumping of GNT (George Negus Tonight), which he fronted weeknights on the ABC last year.

"I was so disgusted I just couldn't ... I, I, it wouldn't matter what the explanation, it was wrong," he says. "It was a program that had ratings higher than the legendary Bellbird, I've heard, critical acclaim, and a rusted-on audience."

His affable ego has been considerably bruised but not broken.

"I've been told there haven't been as many complaints to the ABC about any other decision they have made. Switchboard operators asking for counselling," he says in that comfortable way of his, "When I took over the dog's breakfast that was Dimensions, people told me that when they got a rating of three they had (a celebratory) lunch."

The slap in the face is a first for Negus, 62. He has travelled the world for many years reporting for programs including 60 Minutes and Foreign Correspondent.

Now he has joined the international current affairs program Dateline on SBS (despite its reported infatuation with youth). He says obliquely that it is "not a case of not forgive and forget" but "don't get angry, get even".

Is the world really wonderful?

I think it's wonderful because it never ceases to amaze me that human beings keep on keeping on, despite their own stupidity and their own valiant attempts to destroy each other. Not the human spirit but the humanity, despite religious stupidity, racial stupidity, cultural stupidity, social stupidity.

Would it be worse if there weren't a notion of God?

Was the (Boxing Day) tsunami his idea? Isn't it interesting that we get really generous and upset about something like a natural disaster. The Tsunami: "human spirit at its best". We can handle that because there is nobody to blame, no good and evil. But a man-made disaster like the Middle East, AIDS in Africa, all of those things where we have to make a value judgement - we're not so sure about (helping).

Do you give to charity?

I'm not a charity person because I think charity is an indication that things aren't working properly. Politics of whatever variety affects people's lives on a daily basis. I see things politically. If I gave money it would be me saying it's OK to do it (the charitable thing) instead of society getting its act together. We are in a period in history where charity is in and governments and corporations working in an appropriate economic and social way is out. For all I know it could be a post Berlin Wall (coming down) backlash.

What world leader fits the description "world leader"?

The problem with most so-called world leaders is that they are leading their own country and trying to transplant themselves onto the international stage taking their local politics with them. George Bush is a classic example. America wanted and now he's decided that he is the kind of leader the world wants. Right-wing Christian. That's a political judgement, that's not expressing an opinion. We express judgement so seldom we mistake them for opinions. To say George Bush is a right-wing Christian convert who used to have a drinking problem is a fact. But we sometimes want to ignore those facts that help you understand.

Negus goes on to speculate about the scenario had the planes wreaked havoc on Paris on September 11 2001: "would it have been the same outpouring of US concern and anger and action? They probably would have said the French deserve it."

I speculate whether that was an opinion or judgement.

What was the ethos of media organisations when you first started and now?

I think the change is when idealism is replaced with ambition you have a different kind of behaviour. (Journalists) were driven by some ideal that said our role is to not just inform but explain and create discussion and debate. Now I'm not sure that crosses a lot of minds that often. I have a great deal of difficulty in today's mass media working out what the current crop think is important.

What's important to you?

How much progress have we made when three billion out of six billion people live hand-to-mouth on a daily basis? And we still regard unemployment as an economic variable and we still argue about religion and left and right. We keep being told it's a different world. The world is the same as it always was, the way in which we go about analysing it is different and the medium that we use to express it is different.

Have you got an ideology?

Yeah, I'm a small-h humanitarian and a small-p political animal. I express it by putting politics and economics into a human context. We have to start talking about society the way we used to and less about the economy. My new term for the next decade is socio-economy. Now we don't talk about society, everything has to be economic rational. Most of the things I see that are economically rational are socially irrational.

Negus, who calls himself a militant-moderate will slot nicely into Dateline. But it's unlikely he'll forgive or forget certain people at the ABC because his charm and sense of humanity and justice is driven by his self-esteem.

Do you know that you've made a difference? Has someone's life been better because of you?

If people have thought about things that they hadn't otherwise thought about as a result of me and my work. And enough people after this ABC incident said, "Don't worry George, you'll be right, you'll be back." I think people have worked out what I'm about. I heard callers on the radio (express their upset).

It almost reduced me to tears, I was in a meeting and I had to leave the room. Kirsty (Cockburn, his partner) had to give me a cuddle. I was listening to other people say things about me that were right. They got the idea that I was a catalyst for thought. I'm an old mind-prodder.

Dateline screens on Wednesday at 8.30pm on SBS.


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