RADFORD, Anthony

University of Ballarat
Journalist

Anthony Radford's career as a journalist started in 1995 when he was elected Media President of the University of Ballarat Student Association and editor of Sargasso, the then name of the student magazine. In 1996 Anthony Radford joined the Ballarat Courier, moving to Western District Newspapers in Camperdown in early 1997 where he worked on the Camperdown Chronicle, Western Plains Advertiser and Terang Express. The next destination for Anthony Radford was Sydney where he worked as journalist for the Inner Western Suburbs Courier. He was then appointed Chief of Staff of the entire Courier Newspapers Group, which produces suburban papers from the eastern suburbs to the western suburbs of Sydney. In 2003 Anthony Radford returned to Victoria, working as Senior Journalist for the Bendigo Advertiser.

In Sept 2004 Anthony Radford moved across to the free paper, 'the Bendigo Weekly', as its first ever journalist. The paper soon became the number one news-breaking media outlet in town, and in 2007 boasts four journalists, a news editor and a stunning website - www.bendigoweekly.com.au-.

In November 2006 Anthony Radford won a Walkley Award for excellence in journalism. The award was for a series of stories on Bendigo's water crisis. Questions were raised regarding the local water authority and the state government's lack of action to fix the city's water crisis, despite it being at its lowest level ever, with less than one year's supply left. The Bendigo Weekly decided to do something about the situation and campaigned for a pipeline from the usually water-rich Goulburn system to Bendigo. The State Government put forward an alternative plan, but a strong campaign over 15 weeks, featuring more than 70 stories, inspired the community. In the end the State Government decided a pipeline was the best option and announced they would build the $100 million pipeline by September 2007. The Government then decided to extend it to Ballarat and now want to build a pipeline from the same place to Melbourne.

This biography researched by Clare Gervasoni (with thanks to Anthony Radford), August 2007.