John Laws
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John Laws (born August 8, 1935) is a prominent radio presenter in Australia whose on-air charm has earned him the nickname 'Golden Tonsils'. He has won more awards than any other Australian radio presenter . Born in Wau, Papua New Guinea, Laws was educated at Knox Grammar School and Mosman Preparatory School, both in Sydney, Australia. He began his radio career in 1953, working on 3BO, in Bendigo. John Laws worked at several rural radio stations prior to joining 2UE in 1957, the first of four terms at that Sydney radio station. He left 2UE two years later, and moved to the Hunter Valley, where he ran a farm.
In 1962 he moved back to Sydney where he joined 2GB. Two years later he rejoined 2UE and remained with the station for five years. In 1969 he became a member of 2UW's line-up, which he remained on for ten years. He returned to 2UE in 1979, this time for another five years. Yet again he switched to 2GB after a highly publicised bid for his services. He returned to the 2UE fold when the station was in number eight position on the ratings.
Today, Laws continues to work for 2UE which is also broadcast as 4BC in Brisbane, Queensland. Former Prime Minister Paul Keating called him the "broadcaster of the century". Aside from his successful career in radio, Laws has also hosted for television shows, writes a column for The Sydney Morning Herald and has written several best selling books.
Controversies
In 1999, in what has become known as the 'cash for comment' scandal, Media Watch revealed that Laws and rival talk-back host Alan Jones (then also at 2UE) had been paid to give favourable comment to companies including Qantas, Optus, Foxtel, Mirvac, and major Australian banks, without disclosing this arrangement to listeners. The Australian Broadcasting Authority estimated the value of these arrangements at $18 million and found Laws, Jones, and 2UE to have committed 90 breaches of the industry code and five breaches of 2UE's license conditions.
In 2004, both Jones (now at 2GB) and Laws were accused of cash for comment again, after entering into similar deals with Telstra. The ABA subsequently found that Laws' deal constituted cash for comment but Jones' did not.
Laws, apparently angered by what he saw as inequitable treatment, launched stinging attacks on Jones and the ABA's head, David Flint. In an appearance on the ABC's 'Enough Rope', Laws accused Jones of placing pressure on Prime Minister John Howard to keep Flint as head of the ABA, and made comments that many viewers took to imply a sexual relationship between Jones and Flint (see transcript (http://www.abc.net.au/enoughrope/stories/s1100812.htm)).
In November 2004, Jones and 2UE colleague Steve Price were found guilty of vilifying homosexuals after an on-air discussion about a gay couple appearing in a reality TV show. Laws had previously apologised for another incident in which he called Carson Kressley a "pompous little pansy prig" and "a pillow biter" before urging him to "piss off, pansy".
External links
- 4BC's John Laws page (http://www.4bc.com.au/sites/4bc/Default.asp?Page=19)
- Media Watch analysis of the 1999-2000 'cash for comment' inquiry (http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/transcripts/s62543.htm)
- Media Watch on the Telstra deals (http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/transcripts/s1095125.htm)
- Sydney Morning Herald report on vilification finding (http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Radio-hosts-vilified-gays-tribunal-rules/2004/11/22/1100972329947.html)