Peninsula Living caught up with local renowned journalist, television producer, author and pioneer of the Australian media landscape, Anita Jacoby, to discuss her personal new book.
When we sit down with Anita Jacoby, she’s open about her life in Pittwater, her impressive media career and dealing with misogyny along the way.
It’s this fearless candour that saw her become one of Australia’s most successful journalists and pen her new book about the mysteries of her late father – Secrets Beyond the Screen.
“I’ve travelled all over the world for different stories and every time I get to the Bilgola Bends, and I see the greenery, trees, birds and the waterway and the beaches, I just feel like I am at home,” Anita tells Peninsula Living.
The born and bred local says growing up, her relationship with her father was ‘very influential’, particularly in her choice of career, as he was widely travelled and had ‘witnessed some of the most extraordinary events in modern history’.
“He just had a very big sense of the world, and he formed my view of going into journalism, telling stories from a young age,” she explains.
His inspiration saw her start as a marketing trainee at a publishing company in Dee Why after leaving school, before joining their editorial team.
At the age of 20, Anita then stepped into commercial television at Channel Nine where she was faced with many challenges.
In those days, misogyny in the workplace was at the forefront, creating barriers for her to move up the professional ladder.
“Not once, not twice, but three times I was passed over for the top role as executive producer of the [The Today Show] show, even though I was doing that role in any case,” she recalls.
“They never had women as executive producers of any of their programs, not on the news, not on current affairs, not on any of their general programming.”
Anita says one of the reasons she has been resilient through these challenges was because of her father’s lasting impression.
“He made me feel like, as a young woman, I could do anything, he just made me feel really empowered,” she says.
Then, years after her father’s passing, the man she thought she knew best on the planet was suddenly surrounded by a cloud of mystery when, at a dinner party, Anita was asked about a court case her father was involved in of which she had no knowledge.
Anita’s journalistic instincts and curiosity were sparked, and this conversation turned out to be the start of an almost decade-long journey into uncovering the mysteries of her family.
“You know, as a journalist, curiosity is at the heart of everything you do,” she says.
Anita brought on ABC Four Corner’s alumna Shaun Hoyt to answer some unanswered questions.
“Over the period of about two years, she found the most remarkable amount of material. Much of it was in his own words, both before World War II and during,” Anita explains.
“He achieved so much; he was an extraordinary man. John Howard, our former Prime Minister was his commercial lawyer. He had such a big life, but he went under the radar like a lot of successful people who fled war torn countries and persecution.
“My father fled the Nazis in Germany because he had Jewish heritage and, coming to a country on the other side of the world, he really carved out an extraordinary career for himself. I’m really proud of him.”
Not only did Anita discover her father’s unimaginable experiences, but she also discovered how hers and his histories were similarly interwoven.
“My father was one of the pioneers of the communications industry in Australia,” she says.
After three years of investigation, Anita says if there is one key message readers should take away from her book it’s, ‘how well do we really know our parents?’
“While you still can, you should speak to your parents about their lives. Because once they’re gone, you will find it very difficult to find out anything and I think that’s really sad.”
You can pick up Anita Jacoby’s Secrets Beyond the Screen at all good bookstores today.