About Phillip Knightley

Phillip George Knightley AM (23 January 1929 – 7 December 2016) was an Australian journalist, critic, and non-fiction author. He became a visiting Professor of Journalism at the University of Lincoln, England, and was a media commentator on the intelligence services and propaganda.

Born in Sydney, he began his career in 1946 as a copyboy with the Sydney Daily Telegraph. Two years as a cadet reporter with The Northern Star (Lismore) followed. He then temporarily left journalism to become a copra trader in Fiji. He next joined the Oceania Daily News (Suva), for which he wrote a social column titled Round the Town With Suzanne. The paper prided itself on being the "First Paper Published in the World Today" because of Suva's proximity to the International Dateline.