702 ABC Sydney has announced that Chris Anderson, former Chief Executive of Optus and current Board member of Publishing and Broadcasting Limited (PBL), will deliver the Andrew Olle Media Lecture for 2004.
Anderson, 58, was appointed to the PBL Board on 9 June. He is also on the Board of Austrade.
During his career at Optus, Chris Anderson managed the company through significant milestones including its listing on the Australian Stock Exchange in 1998, the SingTel purchase of Optus in 2001 and the Optus-Foxtel content sharing Pay TV deal in 2002. Previously, Anderson was Group Chief Executive of Television New Zealand (TVNZ) and, before joining TVNZ in 1995, he was Managing Editor of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
The bulk of Chris Anderson’s career, from 1966 to 1991, was spent with John Fairfax Limited. Throughout his 25 years at the organisation, he held a range of editorial and managerial positions in Australia and overseas. He was appointed Managing Director and Group Editorial Director of all Fairfax group newspapers in 1987 and Chief Executive Officer, John Fairfax Group, in 1990.
Between 1978 and 1987, he was Editor, then Editor-in-Chief of The Sydney Morning Herald.
702 ABC Sydney Manager, Roger Summerill, is “very pleased to have Mr Anderson as our speaker for 2004. Mr Anderson’s wealth of experience in both the Australian and international media arena position him as an ideal speaker. Mr Anderson’s acceptance of the invitation reinforces the position of the Andrew Olle Media Lecture as the pre-eminent industry event of the year.”
Chris Anderson follows a long line of distinguished speakers, including Harold Mitchell, Lachlan Murdoch, Kerry Stokes AO, Eric Beecher, Steve Vizard, John
Alexander, Jana Wendt and David Williamson.
The Andrew Olle Media Lecture is named in honour of the respected and much loved ABC broadcaster, Andrew Olle, who died of a brain tumour in 1995.
With its key focus on addressing the role and future of the media, as well as profiling the work of the Andrew Olle Memorial Trust, the event has grown in stature annually since its inception in 1996 and is recognised as “the most significant media event of the year.”
The Andrew Olle Memorial Trust raises money for research into neuroscience, with an emphasis on brain tumours.
The lecture will be delivered at a black tie reception on Friday 29 October in the Ballroom of the Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre at Darling Harbour.
The event will be hosted by 702 ABC Sydney Mornings presenter, Sally Loane. Chris Anderson’s lecture will be broadcast throughout Sydney on 702 ABC Sydney on
Saturday 30 October and nationally on ABC TV on Monday 1 November at 11pm. The lecture will also be audio-streamed on abc.net.au/sydney
Tickets will go on sale early next month.