CAROLINE JONES 1938-2022: FAREWELL TO A TV TRAILBLAZER

ABC’S MOST RESPECTED BROADCASTER IS REMEMBERED BY HER COLLEAGUES

- Phillip Koch

Lisa Wilkinson called her the “gold standard”, and everything the “incomparable” Caroline Jones achieved in her extraordinary 53 years at the ABC was worthy of such platitudes.

On May 20, Caroline died aged 84 following a fall at her Sydney home. But as these testimonies from Australia’s leading journalists show, her powerful contribution to Australian broadcasting will never be forgotten.

“She did everything first – and with enormous style, intelligence and empathy,” award-winning broadcast journalist and former politician Maxine McKew says.

“I can hear her beautifully modulated voice now – such authority and always used to inform and reveal.” Caroline joined the ABC in 1963 and became the first female reporter for the daily This Day Tonight current affairs program in 1968. Her pioneering voice spoke both for and to several generations of Australian women.