Rick Ardon

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rick Ardon presenting Seven News Perth

Rick Ardon, born in Perth on 4 March 1959, is a news presenter on Seven News in Perth. In 2005, Ardon and his co-anchor, Susannah Carr, celebrated their 20th consecutive year reading the news together on Seven Perth.

1 Early years
2 Media career
3 Business interests
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Early years

Ardon completed primary school at the Sacred Heart Primary School, Highgate before progressing to completing high school at CBC Highgate.

[edit] Media career

Ardon began his career at the state's daily paper, The West Australian, where he was awarded with the prestigious WA Cadet of the Year award. In 1978 Rick made the move from print to television, joining television station TVW-7 as a general reporter. The move paid almost immediate dividends, being promoted to a news presenter role soon after joining the station.

His time as a journalist at the Seven Network has seen him cover a number of big stories, from coverage of the Gulf War to the Bali Bombings in 2005 and the Amrozi trial. While leaving Perth Airport for Gulf War, asked a customs officer if covering the "Frede" before "Rick" on his passport was OK. Airport worker told local papers, with subsequent comic misreporting of "new passport being issued overseas" and "being detained."

Other overseas assignments include the Monaco Grand Prix and the Cannes Film Festival. During the Sydney Olympics in 2000 Ardon presented the news to West Australians from the Olympic Stadium. His on-screen work has been rewarded by receiving 10 Logie Awards as WA's Most Popular TV Personality. In addition to his news presenting role he has also written/produced three documentaries for the station.

Lives in the Balance - The story of 114 whales stranded off the WA Coast.
Riviera Rich and Raunchy - A look into the life of those on the French Riviera.
A documentary which he himself filmed on the Pacific.

Ardon lives by the beach in Perth, allowing him to indulge in a favourite pastime, surfing.

[edit] Business interests

In 2002, Rick Ardon's wife, Erin Ardon, received approval from the City of Stirling to operate a Bed and Breakfast.^[1] The Beach Manor Bed and Breakfast is operated from the couple's Scarborough property in Perth, Western Australia.^[2]

On 25 April 2005, the Seven Network lifestyle program The Great Outdoors ran a segment which featured the property. Australian Broadcasting Corporation program Media Watch reported about the segment, and the failure of the Seven Network to disclose Ardon's business relationship with the property.^[3] Seven's then Director of Corporate Development, Simon Francis, replied that there was no conflict on interest in the segment.

To suggest that The Great Outdoors undertook the segment for any reason other than it's a great place to visit is misplaced. The initial interest in the segment from our producers - based in Sydney - was not based on a need or desire to promote our news anchor in Perth or provide some "plug" for a business run by his wife.

—Simon Francis. ^[4]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

^ Taylor, Robert. "News in brief", The West Australian, 2002-07-09.
^ Adshead, Gary. "Fancy a boudoir at Rick's place?", The West Australian, 2004-07-10, p. 3.
^ Rick Ardon's plug. Mediawatch (2005-05-02). Retrieved on January 26, 2007.
^ Francis, Simon (29 April 2005). Reply to Media Watch (PDF). Retrieved on January 26, 2007.