Few writers on economics attract the attention of everyday readers, politicians and Reserve Bank governors, but in a trailblazing career the Herald’s economic editor Ross Gittins has done just that and helped change Australia.
For Gittins, who celebrates his 50th anniversary at the Herald on Wednesday, economics has never been the dismal science, the 19th century put down that came to pigeonhole the discipline of economics as somehow unworthy.
Ross Gittins in the Great Hall of Sydney University, with a portrait of himself taken in 1982.Credit: Wolter Peeters
In an era when economics has often turned into an impenetrable morass of conflicting claims and complex debates, Gittins’ sparkling columns, with their clear, witty and concise touch, have uniquely explained economics in understandable everyday language that proved to be such a source of truth they transformed and improved the quality of public policy debate.
He was a late arrival to journalism. Newcastle-born, Gittins travelled NSW with his parents who were Salvation Army officers, before the family returned to the Hunter where he studied commerce at the University of Newcastle and worked as an accountant before taking a similar job in Sydney. At 26, Gittins joined the Herald as a cadet in February 1974.
His first column, which explored tax reform options before the Whitlam government and then-treasurer Frank Crean, was published the following September. He was appointed economics editor in 1978. He is the longest continuous columnist in our 192-year history and has been writing three columns a week since the early 1980s. His first budget was for Bill Hayden’s first and only economic statement in 1975. In the years since, Gittins has covered 19 federal treasurers and 50 budgets.
The ritual where journalists are housed in a secure room to read the budget papers for hours until the treasurer delivers the budget speech continues still, but has long outlived its use-by date: governments have made lock-ups redundant by strategically releasing the good news in the weeks before budget night and confining journalists until 7.30pm means the media has little capacity to provide context and reaction. Over all those budgets, Gittins increasingly became the shining light who brought the context and economics alive to our readers by relating them to everyday life.
In an ephemeral industry where the only constant is change, the Herald has retained quality journalists such as Gittins, political and international editor Peter Hartcher and chief investigative reporter Kate McClymont, all of whom have worked on this masthead for many years. But we also have a dynamic newsroom of brilliant young reporters who will ensure the torch will always be held high.
Over the years, Gittins has served as a mentor to many of our young journalists. It was his keen eye for talent that brought some of his proteges to the attention of editors and helped them to high-profile bylines in business and political journalism.
Few journalists have the trust of their readers quite like Ross Gittins
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06.02.2024
Few writers on economics attract the attention of everyday readers, politicians and Reserve Bank governors, but in a trailblazing career the Herald’s economic editor Ross Gittins has done just that and helped change Australia.
For Gittins, who celebrates his 50th anniversary at the Herald on Wednesday, economics has never been the dismal science, the 19th century put down that came to pigeonhole the discipline of economics as somehow unworthy.
Ross Gittins in the Great Hall of Sydney University, with a portrait of himself taken in 1982.Credit: Wolter Peeters
In an era when economics has often turned into an impenetrable morass of conflicting claims and complex debates, Gittins’ sparkling columns, with their clear, witty........
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