Jump to content

Naomi Robson

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 58.107.186.3 (talk) at 15:21, 17 February 2010 (→‎Television presenter). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Template:Infobox television personality Naomi Robson (born 31 August 1963)[1] is an Australian television presenter who is best known as the former presenter of the east coast edition of Today Tonight, an Australian current affairs program which is broadcast on weeknights on the Seven Network, from 1997 to 2006. She is now an internet chat show host.

Early life

Robson was born in Los Angeles, California in the United States,[1] but as a child she travelled around the world due to her father's work, spending most of her time between Australia and England. She eventually settled in Australia and began a Bachelor of Arts degree at Melbourne's La Trobe University, planning on majoring in archaeology and modern art. After two years Robson dropped out of university to pursue her passion for photojournalism.

Over the next few years Robson worked in numerous positions, including being an assistant to photojournalists and a copywriter for an advertising agency. She then took a working trip to London, during which she worked as a journalist and as an editorial assistant for a magazine publishing house. After three years in London she returned to Australia and, in 1989, became an assistant editor and feature writer for Personal Success magazine.

Television presenter

In 1990 Robson joined Seven News, initially as a general news reporter but three weeks later she was promoted to presenting news on Tonight Live fronted by comedian Steve Vizard. She also presented Seven's Late News as well as Seven's weekend news bulletins and also reported for the current affairs program Real Life. She was also the summer host for the program.

Robson went to the United States in 1995 but shortly returned to Australia to host Our Victoria, a travel show for the Victorian market. She also co-hosted Seven's News At Five with Peter Ford in Melbourne. In 1997 she became the host of the Melbourne version of Today Tonight. The program was later extended to Sydney and Brisbane, with Robson as host. Figures from the ratings research firm OzTAM indicate that she had a nightly audience of more than one million people across the three capital cities.

Suggestions surfaced on 22 November 2006 that the 2006 Today Tonight season would be Robson's last. She confirmed this on 27 November, saying she would pursue her career in other areas of television. She said "2006 hasn't been the easiest of years". She presented her last show on 1 December 2006.[2] Her replacement, Anna Coren, was named six weeks later.[3]

In January 2007 it was reported that Robson had persuaded Channel Seven executives to extend her contract with the network so that she could compete in the sixth series of Dancing with the Stars. On 13 March 2007 she was part of the third couple voted off the program. Later in the year, Seven executives were reported in the press saying that Robson would be given her own "Oprah Winfrey" style program where she would have an "opportunity to show off the caring side of her personality".[4] Robson was then sacked after the network refused to pick up her pilot,[5] however she returned to narrate Seven's factual series Surf Patrol in mid-2008.[6]

In September 2009, Robson appeared as a presenter with Larry Emdur on Seven's The Morning Show, standing in for Kylie Gillies, who was taking a week off.

She currently hosts online chat program, The Naomi Show.

Controversy

Robson has been the subject of a number of unfavourable media reports and controversies. She apologised for an off-air outburst that was recorded and later broadcast by the Triple J radio station[7] and, after viewers complained about her appearing in khaki and carrying a lizard on her arm while reporting on the death of Steve Irwin,[8] she described the incident as perhaps her biggest mistake, but that it was not her idea to wear the shirt or the reptile and she was not comfortable with it at the time.[9] Allegations of a past relationship with a man connected with the Tony Mokbel drug trial[10] were refuted by Robson, who said that the man was nothing more than a "casual acquaintance" and she did not know his true identity.[11]

In September 2006, Robson and her crew were detained in Indonesia after arriving in the country with tourist visas to film a story on a boy they believed was in danger of being killed by cannibals. They were later deported.[12][13] A war of words erupted between the Nine Network and the Seven Network about the issue, with Today Tonight alleging that Nine's 60 Minutes program refused to rescue the six-year-old. On 15 September, Seven's head of news and current affairs, Peter Meakin, played down his network's role in the controversy after his counterpart at Nine, Gary Linnell, had angrily stated that Nine would be taking legal action on Seven's accusations.

In early 2010, Robson's manager, Max Markson, made several attempts to remove comments about these controversies from Wikipedia, describing the article on Robson as "libellous". Wikipedia editors responded with concerns that Markson's edits were biased and in contravention of Wikipedia guidelines. The incident attracted media coverage,[14] drawing further attention to the controversies (the so-called Streisand effect).

Filmography

References

  1. ^ a b State of California. California Birth Index, 1905-1995. Center for Health Statistics, California Department of Health Services, Sacramento, California. http://www.familytreelegends.com/records/calbirths?c=search&first=Naomi&last=Robson&spelling=Exact&4_year=&4_month=0&4_day=0&5=female&7=&SubmitSearch.x=27&SubmitSearch.y=20&SubmitSearch=Submit
  2. ^ Ziffer, Daniel (2006-11-28). "Naomi Robson signs off after a year to forget". The Age. Retrieved 2006-11-28.
  3. ^ http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,21122313-5006002,00.html
  4. ^ Raines, Ros (2007-03-18). "Could Naomi Robson be the new Oprah?". The Sunday Herald Sun. Retrieved 2007-04-01.
  5. ^ Richard, Clune (2007-07-01). "Naomi Robson dumped by Seven. url = http://www.news.com.au/sundaytelegraph/story/0,,21994902-5001021,00.html". The Sunday Telegraph. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); External link in |title= (help); Missing pipe in: |title= (help); line feed character in |title= at position 30 (help)
  6. ^ Knox, David (2008-05-01). "Naomi Robson returns to Seven". TV Tonight. Retrieved 2008-05-01.
  7. ^ Gibson, Jano (2005-05-24). "Robson lets #@!!**! rip". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2006-08-03.
  8. ^ Connolly, Fiona (2006-09-06). "Sydney Confidential". The Daily Telegraph. p. 26. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ "Robson says lizard made her look 'silly'". Australian Associated Press. 2006-11-28.
  10. ^ Hunt, Elissa (2006-03-29). "TV Star: I was duped". Herald Sun. p. 1.
  11. ^ Anderson, Paul (2006-03-30). "Robson clears the air on camera". Herald Sun. p. 5.
  12. ^ "Robson deported 'after cannibal hunt'". Ninemsn.com.au. 2006-09-14. Retrieved 2006-09-14.
  13. ^ Day, Mark (2006-09-21). "Jungle bungle a boost for ratings and journo cred". The Australian. Retrieved 2006-11-18.
  14. ^ Bachl, Matt (1 February 2010). "Naomi Robson in Wikipedia edit war". ninemsn/Nine News. Retrieved 1 February 2010.
Media offices
Preceded by Today Tonight presenter
January 1997 to December 2006 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Naomi_Robson&oldid=344624821"