Inside Stories Free online reading

Although Prime Minister Robert Menzies used to say Australians were "British to the bootstraps", there were some who worried we were not engaging enough with the countries in our own region. In the late 1970s and early 80s broadcaster Tim Bowden recorded interviews with some of Australia's pioneering journalists for their work in the Asia Pacific region and beyond, including Margaret Jones – the Sydney Morning Herald’s first correspondent accredited to Peking, in 1973, and Pat Burgess, perhaps most known for his coverage of the Vietnam War. Douglas Wilkie was a war correspondent in Asia and Europe; Elizabeth Riddell covered the re-occupation of Europe from the Germans in 1944; and Diane Willman reported from Beirut from 1969-1977. These are the personal accounts and true stories from Australian journalists that have brought the news back to their homeland from across the globe.