Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) journalist Tim Bowden has died at the age of 87. Bowden endeared himself to viewers for decades thanks to his work as a journalist and TV host as well as an author. He left behind a legacy for any reporters or journalists following in his footsteps.
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Following his passing, ABC shared a special tribute to Bowden and his legacy at the station.
"Tim was part of the fabric of the ABC for decades. And made a huge contribution to the national public broadcaster and to the nation," ABC managing director David Anderson said. "He was generous to his colleagues. And was known as much for his sense of humor as his passion for journalism and the ABC."
Meanwhile, author David Brill had been writing a book about Bowden and his life prior to his death. He said that the TV host always kept his sense of humor.
"He always told me when we used to talk about journalism to keep the English language simple and have a sense of humor," he told ABC Hobart.
Tim Bowden Dies
Viewers will likely remember Bowden as the host of the classic TV show Backchat from 1986 to 1994. It helped him reach a wide audience especially in Australia. However, he also produced several documentaries, especially around Antarctica. Earlier in his career, Bowden appeared in radio programs such as Talking History, and That's History.
"Journalists are generally rated in the public mind on the same level as used car salesmen, lawyers, politicians or other professionals of dubious reputation," Bowden wrote. "But I've always been a happy traveller in journalism. Which ... gets you into all kinds of situations that you otherwise would have had a snowflakes chance in hell of experiencing."
The journalist's early career saw him serve as a war correspondent in Vietnam. Of the war, he said he had to tow a line in order to keep access.
"No army was ever going to give the press the freedom that they'd had in the Vietnam war," Bowden said. "You can be embedded but, of course, you're totally the creature of the army and the unit you're with and you have to report what they're doing in a positive manner — otherwise they won't let you keep doing it."
