James Dibble, legendary ABC Newsreader Dead at 87

I grew up watching this man, in a household where news, whether from the TV or news papers like The Sydney Morning Herald, was a major part of our lives. He retired in the year I finished high school, and so formed one of the media backdrops to my life.

RIP James - you were awesome!

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His obituary

Legendary ABC TV newsreader James Dibble has died from cancer aged 87.



Dibble made history when he presented the first ABC TV news bulletin on November 5, 1956.


He presented the ABC TV News in Sydney for 27 years, becoming one of the most recognisable faces on Australian television.


His last bulletin was on June 10, 1983 when he read in front of a live audience of about 80 people in the news studio.


"Just an ordinary bloke, doing his job, and doing it to the best of his ability," Dibble told a civic reception at the time of his retirement.


Dibble was succeeded by Richard Morecroft, who paid tribute to the man he said became the figurehead for an entire era in broadcasting.


"I was a little surprised at how modest a man he was for somebody who had such an extraordinary reputation," he said.


ABC managing director Mark Scott described Dibble as "a gentleman, a fine newsreader, much loved across Australia".

"He was the figure of trust that we all turned to at 7 o'clock every night, bringing the great events of the world and the great events of Australia."


His grand niece, Gillian Rose, said he was a kind and lovely man.


"He was just an amazing man," she said.


"I was born about six months after he actually retired from the ABC, but I always grew up knowing what he'd done, from the looks that we'd get from the people on the street and people coming up and [saying] how much they respected him.


"To me he was just my Uncle Jim."


Dibble attended St Brigid's Primary School and De La Salle College in Marrickville.


He joined the Royal Australian Air Force at beginning of World War II, working as a wireless telegraphist before becoming a news reader for ABC Radio.


Dibble later spent 18 months as federal president of the ABC Staff Association.


He never married and lived with his mother until she died in 1981.