Alex Mitchell (Australian journalist)
Alex Mitchell (born 9 March 1942) is an Australian journalist, columnist and writer. In 2011 he published his memoirs under the title Come the Revolution, described by critic Peter Craven as 'a great journalist's reflection of the colour and horror of history on the run.'[1]
Mitchell began his career on the Townsville Daily Bulletin, the Mount Isa Mail and the Daily Mirror in Sydney and the Canberra Press Gallery. Arriving in London in 1967 he joined the Sunday Times investigative team, Insight, investigating the Soviet master spy Kim Philby, the corporate fraudsters Bernie Cornfeld of IOS and Robert Maxwell of Pergamon Press. In 1971 he joined Granada Television's World in Action as reporter on "The Man Who Stole Uganda" (on Idi Amin's Kampala coup) and "The Rise and Fall of Jerome D Hoffman". He became editor of the Trotskyist daily newspaper, Workers Press, later renamed The News Line, before returning to Sydney in 1986 to join the John Fairfax-owned The Sun-Herald. Between 1992 and 1994 he was Sun-Herald European correspondent based in London and later became State Political Editor and president of the NSW Parliamentary Press Gallery (2001–07).
Mitchell is married to Judith White, executive director of the NSW Art Gallery Society, and they have a son, Scott. From a previous relationship he has two children, Laura and Lachlan.
He is a regular contributor to the online current affairs site Crikey and the ABC site The Drum, and has written for Meanjin and Overland.