In July 2018, the Australian '60 Minutes' program was inducted into the TV Week Logie Awards Hall of Fame. Jana Wendt remarked, "Survival in the obstacle course of television and, in particular, television journalism, is hard and getting harder. Forty years (1979-2018) is no small achievement." Jana Wendt had been described as the "peripatetic daughter of Australian current affairs".
'Women's Weekly' noted in 2005, "The truth is that Jana’s life has been as extraordinary as those she has documented, a life rich with experiences that most people can only dream about." As Australia reached 200 years in 1988, channel Nine presented Jana Wendt in 'A Current Affair'. "To be in journalism a natural curiosity has to drive you. I have developed a lot more (in 1990) since the early days. I was pretty lazy then. The effort you thought you had to put in to get a decent story was far short of the mark."
'Entertainment Weekly' reported in June 1994, "Industry observers, such as network media buyer Paul Schulman, believe the (American) '60 Minutes' appeal transcends time — and changing lead-ins. Schulman points out that the show, which finished No. 2 for the 1993-94 season, averaged a slightly higher share last year after the football season.
"The show is acknowledged to be TV’s best newsmagazine, but how long can a staff whose average age is 62 stay on top? Don Hewitt, 71, does say that the show is looking for fresh faces; he's very high on Jana Wendt, 38, an Australian TV reporter who started contributing to the program in March (1994). In the end, Hewitt believes the show will survive not in spite of its age and tradition, but because of it."
'Fairfax Media' reported in 2010, "Perhaps surprisingly for someone who became the prime-time face of a generation, Wendt says she blundered into journalism. When she arrived at network Ten in Melbourne in 1978 as a 22-year-old university graduate and asked for a job, she only vaguely knew she wanted to do something involving ideas.
"It was, she says now (in 2010), 'completely naive, stuff.' The only child of Czech refugees, Wendt says that, if anything, she was emulating her father, who was a part-time journalist for a dissident Czech newspaper." Speaking to Lauren Quaintance, Jana made the comment, "People almost literally have 10-year plans now (in 2010). That was the furthest thing from my mind ... I just lived in hope that after I did a degree something might happen."
After leaving television, Jana Wendt said, "I'm a very happy writer. So I freelance write and write a bit of fiction as well. I just enjoy it a great deal." In 2008, the book 'A Matter of Principle' was published. In the book, Jana Wendt mentioned, "But aside from the meat (or froth, as the case may be) of the interviews, I was always interested in the way that the people to whom I spoke conducted themselves in the often exalted positions they held.
"How the United States' first female Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, bore the weight of her responsibility as I watched her in the power-rich ozone of the State Department in 1998 interested me almost as much as what she was telling me about US foreign policy. Similarly, Henry Kissinger's fascinatingly bloodless analyses of world affairs were made even more absorbing by the way he carried his stats and influence at the time that we met."
In 1998, the ABC "outsourced" the 'Uncensored' program from independent producers, Beyond Productions. The 10-part 30-minute series which costed less than $1 million attracted controversy because of the network's editorial policy which forbade the outsourcing of news and current affairs. "'Uncensored' effectively strayed into current affairs in its interview with the US Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright," it was reported.
However, Jana Wendt insisted at the time, "The program's interview with the US Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, followed the brief set down for the program: to talk to our guests about the system of values that underpins their public acts. We first placed our request for this interview in December 1997, long before there were any plans for her to visit Australia. The fact that she chose to talk to 'Uncensored' before ABC news and current affairs is beyond our control.
"But let's be honest: this fact lies at the heart of much of the bile spilling out about 'Uncensored'. Would news programs have asked Albright about the relationship between principle and policy and the moral dilemmas she faces? And having been offered the interview, should I then have ignored the fact that she was coming to Australia to discuss regional issues?"
Then ABC managing director, Brian Johns, was diplomatic, stating 'Uncensored' was "a credit to the ABC." As reported, "Wendt and 'Uncensored' are 'becoming a symbol of the things the broadcaster might do if the Government has its way and outsources everything.'" David Salter reasoned, "It's nothing to do with her. The staff's concerns are about management doing this deal. We can understand our managers might want her as an on-screen personality so why not hire her for 'The 7.30 Report' or 'Four Corners'! Instead we have a separate system where she's bundled into a package from an outside company."
By 2011, former '60 Minutes' reporter Ray Martin complained of the lack of serious political coverage on commercial networks. In the 1980s and 1990s, channel Nine presentation of news was unequaled for audience interest and reaction. The network vowed to continue a total commitment to the best coverage on any given event and issue; setting the agenda, seting the standard day by day, hour by hour.
Speaking to 'The Sunday Telegraph', Ray Martin lamented, "There was a time ... in which channel Nine was the network Australians turned to in crisis. We did an interview (on 'A Current Affair') every night. You have to accept the fact that you may do some things that turn people off if you're going to be a credible news organization. It doesn't earn you a lot of money but it pulls a lot of cred. They've abandoned that to their own loss."
In 1990, the Australian television industry replaced the AGB McNair Anderson diary system with the A.C. Nielsen electronic people meters to measure audience. Under the log-book style, the 52-week ratings period was divided into 36-week ratings (from February to November each year) and 16-week non-ratings (between November one year and February the next).
Ray Martin continued, "People would always forget (what they watched) and they'd say, 'We watch Nine news, and we watch Mike Willesee, and we watch 'Four Corners' even if they didn't watch 'Four Corners'. So Willesee or Jana, could do 12 minutes with the Prime Minister and get away with it. When minute-by-minute ratings came along, we would find we'd lost 100,000 viewers in Sydney and 90,000 in Melbourne the moment the PM came on, whether it was (Paul) Keating or (John) Howard.
"If you're only winning by 10,000 against the other mob (rival programs), you can't afford to lose 200,000 viewers. (Former Immigration minister Philip) Ruddock was the worst. If you put Ruddock on, they'd go in droves. While every commercial television isn't offering any balance to (politics), I think they're dangerous. Those who are most successful tend to be conservative - and those who have a small-L liberal bent, they usually lose the ratings. Phillip Adams couldn't be anywhere else than Radio National. Why don't we have any moderates?"
At a seminar conducted by the Australian Institute of Management in Sydney on June 2, 2008, Jana told the audience her experience as a journalist showed her just how rich individual lives could be and how people navigated them. Advising "don’t take over the show", Jana made the point that journalists were frequently interviewing people who had a lifetime of experience in their subject matter, whether it was politics, law, management, sport or entertainment. The journalist was not the expert, that he or she would be required to learn enough to conduct the interview, but shouldn't try to compete over expertise.
"The show is acknowledged to be TV’s best newsmagazine, but how long can a staff whose average age is 62 stay on top? Don Hewitt, 71, does say that the show is looking for fresh faces; he's very high on Jana Wendt, 38, an Australian TV reporter who started contributing to the program in March (1994). In the end, Hewitt believes the show will survive not in spite of its age and tradition, but because of it."
'Fairfax Media' reported in 2010, "Perhaps surprisingly for someone who became the prime-time face of a generation, Wendt says she blundered into journalism. When she arrived at network Ten in Melbourne in 1978 as a 22-year-old university graduate and asked for a job, she only vaguely knew she wanted to do something involving ideas.
"It was, she says now (in 2010), 'completely naive, stuff.' The only child of Czech refugees, Wendt says that, if anything, she was emulating her father, who was a part-time journalist for a dissident Czech newspaper." Speaking to Lauren Quaintance, Jana made the comment, "People almost literally have 10-year plans now (in 2010). That was the furthest thing from my mind ... I just lived in hope that after I did a degree something might happen."
After leaving television, Jana Wendt said, "I'm a very happy writer. So I freelance write and write a bit of fiction as well. I just enjoy it a great deal." In 2008, the book 'A Matter of Principle' was published. In the book, Jana Wendt mentioned, "But aside from the meat (or froth, as the case may be) of the interviews, I was always interested in the way that the people to whom I spoke conducted themselves in the often exalted positions they held.
"How the United States' first female Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, bore the weight of her responsibility as I watched her in the power-rich ozone of the State Department in 1998 interested me almost as much as what she was telling me about US foreign policy. Similarly, Henry Kissinger's fascinatingly bloodless analyses of world affairs were made even more absorbing by the way he carried his stats and influence at the time that we met."
In 1998, the ABC "outsourced" the 'Uncensored' program from independent producers, Beyond Productions. The 10-part 30-minute series which costed less than $1 million attracted controversy because of the network's editorial policy which forbade the outsourcing of news and current affairs. "'Uncensored' effectively strayed into current affairs in its interview with the US Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright," it was reported.
However, Jana Wendt insisted at the time, "The program's interview with the US Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, followed the brief set down for the program: to talk to our guests about the system of values that underpins their public acts. We first placed our request for this interview in December 1997, long before there were any plans for her to visit Australia. The fact that she chose to talk to 'Uncensored' before ABC news and current affairs is beyond our control.
"But let's be honest: this fact lies at the heart of much of the bile spilling out about 'Uncensored'. Would news programs have asked Albright about the relationship between principle and policy and the moral dilemmas she faces? And having been offered the interview, should I then have ignored the fact that she was coming to Australia to discuss regional issues?"
Then ABC managing director, Brian Johns, was diplomatic, stating 'Uncensored' was "a credit to the ABC." As reported, "Wendt and 'Uncensored' are 'becoming a symbol of the things the broadcaster might do if the Government has its way and outsources everything.'" David Salter reasoned, "It's nothing to do with her. The staff's concerns are about management doing this deal. We can understand our managers might want her as an on-screen personality so why not hire her for 'The 7.30 Report' or 'Four Corners'! Instead we have a separate system where she's bundled into a package from an outside company."
By 2011, former '60 Minutes' reporter Ray Martin complained of the lack of serious political coverage on commercial networks. In the 1980s and 1990s, channel Nine presentation of news was unequaled for audience interest and reaction. The network vowed to continue a total commitment to the best coverage on any given event and issue; setting the agenda, seting the standard day by day, hour by hour.
Speaking to 'The Sunday Telegraph', Ray Martin lamented, "There was a time ... in which channel Nine was the network Australians turned to in crisis. We did an interview (on 'A Current Affair') every night. You have to accept the fact that you may do some things that turn people off if you're going to be a credible news organization. It doesn't earn you a lot of money but it pulls a lot of cred. They've abandoned that to their own loss."
In 1990, the Australian television industry replaced the AGB McNair Anderson diary system with the A.C. Nielsen electronic people meters to measure audience. Under the log-book style, the 52-week ratings period was divided into 36-week ratings (from February to November each year) and 16-week non-ratings (between November one year and February the next).
Ray Martin continued, "People would always forget (what they watched) and they'd say, 'We watch Nine news, and we watch Mike Willesee, and we watch 'Four Corners' even if they didn't watch 'Four Corners'. So Willesee or Jana, could do 12 minutes with the Prime Minister and get away with it. When minute-by-minute ratings came along, we would find we'd lost 100,000 viewers in Sydney and 90,000 in Melbourne the moment the PM came on, whether it was (Paul) Keating or (John) Howard.
"If you're only winning by 10,000 against the other mob (rival programs), you can't afford to lose 200,000 viewers. (Former Immigration minister Philip) Ruddock was the worst. If you put Ruddock on, they'd go in droves. While every commercial television isn't offering any balance to (politics), I think they're dangerous. Those who are most successful tend to be conservative - and those who have a small-L liberal bent, they usually lose the ratings. Phillip Adams couldn't be anywhere else than Radio National. Why don't we have any moderates?"
At a seminar conducted by the Australian Institute of Management in Sydney on June 2, 2008, Jana told the audience her experience as a journalist showed her just how rich individual lives could be and how people navigated them. Advising "don’t take over the show", Jana made the point that journalists were frequently interviewing people who had a lifetime of experience in their subject matter, whether it was politics, law, management, sport or entertainment. The journalist was not the expert, that he or she would be required to learn enough to conduct the interview, but shouldn't try to compete over expertise.
