The Nine Network’s political editor Laurie Oakes is to be inducted into the TV Week Logie Awards’ Hall of Fame when the annual awards presentation takes place early next month.
With a background in radio and newspaper reporting, Oakes made his television debut in the 1970s on the Willesee At Seven program. He later became political correspondent for the Ten Network before joining the Nine Network in the mid-1980s.
At Nine, Oakes regularly led the media’s news agenda with his weekly political interviews on the Sunday program. Even after the demise of Sunday in 2008, Oakes continued to present his interviews on its successor programs Sunday Morning News and Weekend Today.
Earlier this month, Oakes announced that after 26 years he was stepping back from his Sunday morning commitments but will continue to report for Nine.
The Hall of Fame Logie is the third major award for Oakes in recent times. He was also recently awarded the Gold Walkley and the Graham Perkin Journalist of the Year, following his breaking of significant stories during the recent Federal Election campaign.
The TV Week Logie Awards’ Hall of Fame was initiated in 1984 as a means of recognition of those who have made an outstanding or sustained contribution to the Australian television industry, either on screen or behind the cameras. Past recipients have included Hector Crawford, Paul Hogan, Reg Grundy, Johnny Young, James Davern, Bert Newton, Don Lane, Graham Kennedy, Maurie Fields, Bruce Gyngell, Michael Willesee, Mike Walsh, Ruth Cracknell, Garry McDonald, Sam Chisholm, Steve Irwin, Brian Naylor, Bill Collins and Bryan Brown. Long-running programs Four Corners, Neighbours and Play School have also been inducted into the Hall of Fame.
The 53rd annual TV Week Logie Awards will be held at Melbourne’s Crown Casino on Sunday 1 May. The awards presentation will be hosted by Shane Bourne and broadcast via the Nine Network.
Source: The Australian, Ninemsn
