Keith Jackson became a Member of the Order of Australia on Australia Day in recognition of his forty years in the communications industry, both in Australia and in the Asia-Pacific region.
The citation for Keith Jackson’s AM covered the broad portfolio of “service to management and training in the media; communications and public relations fields and to the development of non-commercial radio services.”
Jackson told radioinfo: “I was delighted to get this award. It reinforced for me that communications is a team game and that the best results are usually team driven.”
After starting his career as a schoolteacher in the New Guinea highlands – where he freelanced for various media – Keith Jackson trained as a producer with the ABC, later working in government radio stations throughout the then Australian territory.
He played a major role in the development of the National Broadcasting Commission of Papua New Guinea, receiving an Independence Medal for his efforts.
Leaving PNG in 1976, a year after independence, Jackson set up Australia’s first regional community radio station in Armidale, NSW, before spending two years in the Maldive Islands assisting with the development of educational radio services in the Indian Ocean archipelago.
Jackson returned to Australia in 1979 as foundation manager of Sydney’s educational radio station, 2SER-FM. He left in 1983 to unsuccessfully contest a Federal election for the Labor Party, after which he joined the International Training Institute as a lecturer in mass communication.
He left the Institute as acting Principal to rejoin the ABC after 15 years as General Manager, Corporate Relations, where he did much to improve the Corporation’s government, media and community relations.
In 1988 he was recruited by public relations firm Mojo, and two years later established his own company, which, as Jackson Wells Morris, has since become one of Australia’s leading PR firms.
Jackson Wells Morris clients include leading corporations like Qantas, Warner Bros, Suncorp, NRMA, British American Tobacco, Boral, John Fairfax, Deutsche Bank and the University of Sydney.
Over the years, Keith Jackson’s contribution to broadcasting has also included media management training programs in many countries where he has influenced many broadcasters. With co-author Phil Charley, he authored the radio management manual, ‘Manage By The Moment’, for UNESCO.
He is also a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management and a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts.
1962-63
CADET EDUCATION OFFICER, AUSTRALIAN SCHOOL OF PACIFIC ADMINISTRATION, MOSMAN, AUSTRALIA
1963
Certificate in Education, Australian School of Pacific Administration
1963-66
EDUCATION OFFICER, DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, KUNDIAWA AND GAGL, CHIMBU DISTRICT, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
1964-66
Editor Kundiawa News
1964-77
Freelance Journalist, Australian Broadcasting Commission, South Pacific Post, PNG Post Courier, Pacific Islands Monthly, Nation, Nation Review, New Englander
1966-67
EDITOR SCHOOL PUBLICATIONS, DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, PORT MORESBY, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
1967
NSW Teacher’s Certificate
1967-69
RADIO PRODUCER, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING COMMISSION, PORT MORESBY, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
1970
ASSISTANT STATION MANAGER, RADIO RABAUL, RABAUL, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
1970-73
STATION MANAGER, RADIO BOUGAINVILLE, KIETA, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
1973
CONSULTANT IN EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY, UNESCO, JOGJAKARTA, INDONESIA
1973-74
HEAD OF RESEARCH, NATIONAL BROADCASTING COMMISSION, PORT MORESBY, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
1975-76
DIRECTOR OF THE SECRETARIAT, NATIONAL BROADCASTING COMMISSION, PORT MORESBY, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
1975
Bachelor of Arts, University of Papua New Guinea
1976-77
FOUNDATION STATION MANAGER, RADIO STATION 2ARM-FM, ARMIDALE, AUSTRALIA
1977-79
EDUCATIONAL BROADCASTING EXPERT, UNESCO, MALE, MALDIVES REPUBLIC
1977
Independence Medal, Government of Papua New Guinea
1978
Course Director, Centre for Education Technology, New Delhi, India
1979-83
FOUNDATION MANAGER, RADIO STATION 2SER-FM, SYDNEY AUSTRALIA
1979-82
Visiting Lecturer in Mass Communication, International Training Institute, Sydney, Australia
1979-83
Treasurer, Public Broadcasting Association of Australia
1983-85
LECTURER IN MASS MEDIA then DEPUTY PRINCIPAL, INTERNATIONAL TRAINING INSTITUTE, DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
1984-85
President, Public Broadcasting Foundation
1984-87
Member, Australian National Commission for Unesco
1985-88
GENERAL MANAGER, CORPORATE RELATIONS, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
1986
Course Director, Asean-Australia Media and Information Program, Manila and Baguio City, Philippines
1987
Consultant, Australian International Development Assistance Bureau, Male, Maldives Republic
1988-91
PRINCIPAL CONSULTANT, ISSUES AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
1988
Course Director, Asean-Australia Media and Information Program, Jakarta and Jogjakarta, Indonesia
1989
Course Director, Asean-Australia Media and Information Program, Suva, Fiji
1991-92
PRINCIPAL, JACKSON COMMUNICATIONS PTY LTD, SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
1992-2000
MANAGING DIRECTOR, JACKSON WELLS COMMUNICATIONS PTY LTD, SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
1996-98
Director, Issue Management Council, Washington, USA
1999
Co-authored radio management handbook, Manage By the Moment, (Southbound 1998) on commission from UNESCO, published in English and Indonesian editions.
2000-2004
CHAIRMAN, JACKSON WELLS MORRIS PTY LTD, SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
2005
Member in the Order of Australia (AM), Commonwealth of Australia, for “services to Service to management and training in the media; communications and public relations fields and to the development of non-commercial radio services”