Ray Martin (television presenter)

Ray Martin
File:Martin ray aca.jpg Ray Martin on A Current Affair
Born	20 December 1944 Richmond, NSW, Australia
Occupation	Nine Network Journalist

Ray Martin (born 20 December 1944, in Richmond, New South Wales) is the Australian Nine Network's Senior Correspondent. He is also one of the most recognised faces on Australian Television.

Television career

Ray Martin was appointed the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s North American correspondent in 1969. Over the next 10 years his coverage included race riots, anti-Vietnam War protests, Olympic Games and presidential elections for news and current affairs television and radio, from Four Corners and This Day Tonight to science and religion programs.

In 1978 he joined the Nine Network to launch 60 Minutes, along with reporters George Negus and Ian Leslie.

From 1985 to 1993 he presented the daily variety show Midday with Ray Martin and hosted top-rating specials such as Ray Martin Presents, Up Close and Personal and The Ray Martin Show, interviewing entertainment celebrities including Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Robin Williams, Elton John, Michael Crawford, Russell Crowe and Madonna. These were among the highest-rating programs on television.

He hosted A Current Affair from 1994 to 1998 and went on to present three series – Our Century, The Great Debates and Simply the Best – before returning to 60 Minutes to do special reports. In 2003 he resumed as host of A Current Affair. It was announced in December 2005 that he would become the Nine Network's Senior Reporter. This quashed much speculation that he would return to Four Corners at the ABC, as the fluctuating ratings for ACA have decreased. Over the past few years he has assisted in reporting with some major events including the Indonesian tsunami disaster in 2005. Former Today Show co-host Tracy Grimshaw replaced Martin on ACA at the beginning of 2006. He is now a senior correspondent for Channel Nine. He has also hosted diverse television events, from the Logie Awards, Commonwealth Games, World Cup Cricket, 1988 Bicentenary Spectacular and Federal and State Election nights to the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

A popular joke in Australia has been whether Martin wears a wig, due to his constant, slick hairstyle. Ray's hair style was often satirised on the TV shows Full Frontal and Frontline. Both Martin's "immovable hair" and his coverage of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake were satirized in a single breath by Eddie Perfect in his song Hooray for Ray ("and his shiny toupee / standing on the rubble of Banda Aceh") MP3.

Awards

Ray Martin has received five Gold Logie Awards for the Most Popular Personality on Australian Television, Australia’s most prestigious television award. He received his first at the Logie Awards of 1987 as host of Midday, then he received 4 in a row at the Logie Awards of 1993, 1994, 1995 and 1996. The first two as host of Midday and the last two as host of A Current Affair. He has also received Silver Logies, People’s Choice Awards, Variety, Mo and Queensland Entertainer awards and the annual Best Hair On TV award.

Criticism

Ray Martin is sometimes criticised for his work on tabloid current affairs show [[1]]. One of the most famous incidents occurred around the 1996 Australian election and focused on three young unemployed Australians (the Paxton children) who were portrayed as "dole-bludgers". Critics argue that the family was misled as to the nature of the story and were demonized in the subsequent media coverage.

Following the report on the Paxton family, young film-maker and comedian John Safran, in the company of Shane Paxton, attempted to interview Martin after rummaging through the contents of Martin's garbage bin. Martin lost his composure, but the footage has only once been broadcast on SBS television and is not publicly available (except online), due to Martin's threat of litigation. File:Http://fuck-the-skull-of-jesus.mit.edu/safran/fightingraysmall.jpg

Martin’s credibility was dealt a severe and permanent blow by his gushing story on Channel 9’s “A Current Affair”, ("The doctor many believe can cure cancer"), 9 August 2004), in which he unreservedly supported a controversial microwave cancer therapy touted by supporters of Dr John Holt of Perth Australia. This prompted the Australian Government to instruct the National Health and Medical Research Council to conduct a review of Dr Holt’s microwave cancer therapy, which found, after considerable expense, that claims of benefit were baseless and in some cases the therapy made the illness worse. It is clear that Martin made no enquiries concerning the treatment of any experts in the field, and he has never retracted the story or apologised to his audience.

== Producers ==

• Rory Callaghan 1992-96
• Peter Wynn 1997-98
• Steve Bibb 1999-01
• Danny Keens 2002-05
• Hugh Nailon 2005-06

External link

• Ray Martin Biography, Information, etc ...
• Ray Martin at IMDb