James Cameron (journalist)

Mark James Cameron (17 June 1911 – 26 January, 1985) was a prominent British journalist, in whose memory the annual James Cameron Memorial Lecture is given.

Early life

Cameron was born in Battersea, London of Scottish parentage; his father, William Ernest Cameron, was a barrister who wrote novels under the pseudonym Mark Allerton. His mother was Margaret Douglas (Robertson) Cameron.

Career

Cameron began as an office dogsbody with "Weekly News" in 1935. Having worked for Scottish newspapers and for the "Daily Express" in Fleet Street, he was rejected for military service in World War II. After the war, his experience reporting on the Bikini Atoll nuclear experiments turned him into a pacifist and a founding member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. He continued to work for the "Express" until 1950, when he briefly joined "Picture Post", where he and photographer Bert Hardy covered the Korean War, winning the Missouri Pictures of the Year Award for "Inchon". "Picture Post" editor Sir Tom Hopkinson lost his job when he defended the pair over their Pusan U.N. atrocities coverage, as publisher Sir Edward G. Hulton opted to censor the story.

In 1952, Cameron wrote an obituary essay for the "Illustrated London News", "The King Is Dead," about the passing of King George VI. Cameron then spent eight years with the "News Chronicle". In 1953 he visited Albert Schweitzer in Lambaréné, in French Equatorial Africa (now Gabon) and found flaws in the practices and attitudes of Schweitzer and his staff. [James Cameron "Point of Departure", 1966 [1978] , Law Book Co of Australasia, p154-74. The bulk of this passage is online [http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=WM89AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA154&lpg=PA154&dq=%22Albert+Schweitzer%22+%22James+Cameron%22&source=web&ots=ZTmqWzWjEs&sig=Ag6WBNCSdhBzs2M0fOqmsbmqtuk&hl=en#PPA174,M1 here] .] This was the subject of "The Walrus and the Terrier" a BBC Radio 4 "Afternoon Play" by Christopher Ralling, broadcast on 7 April 2008. [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b009przg "The Walrus and the Terrier"] - programme outline]

Cameron also did illustration work, especially in his early career. Working in Scotland for D. C. Thomson, he drew for sensationalist items in Thomson's publications. He rebelled when asked to draw a murder of a young girl, embellishing it with excess blood and grisly detail. Called to Thomson's office, he was rebuked merely for exposing her underwear.

He was married three times, to Elma, Elizabeth and Moni; and had three children, Desmond, Elma and Fergus. Cameron's first wife, Elma, died in childbirth near the start of World War II.

Cameron wrote two volumes of autobiography: "Point of Departure", a chronicle of his life, and "An Indian Summer", about his relationship with India; his marriage to Moni, an Indian; and his serious car accident and near death in Calcutta.

With television, Cameron became a broadcaster, presenting BBC series including "Cameron Country". He also wrote a radio play, "The Pump" (1973), based on his experience of open heart surgery. In his last years, he wrote a column for "The Guardian."

James Cameron died on January 26, 1985. He was 73.

James Cameron Awards for Journalism

There is an annual James Cameron Award Ceremony in London.

Previous winners include:

2004
*James Cameron Memorial Award for Outstanding Journalism, John Ware
*Special Posthumous Award, Paul Foot

2002
*James Cameron Memorial Award for reporting from Africa, Chris McGreal

References

Bibliography

*"Touch of the Sun" (1950)
*"Mandarin Red" (1955)
*"1914: A Portrait of the Year" (1959)
*"The African Revolution" (1961)
*"1916: Year of Decision" (1962)
*"Men of Our Time" (1963)
*"Witness in Vietnam" (1966)
*"Point of Departure" (1967) ISBN 0-85362-175-6
*"What a Way to Run the Tribe" (selected journalism) (1968)
*"An Indian Summer" (1974) ISBN 0-14-009569-1
*"The Making of Israel" (1976)
*"Wish You Were Here: The English at Play" (with Patrick Ward) (1977)
*"The Best of Cameron" (1981)

External links

* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/documentaries/timeshift/james-cameron.shtml BBC Time Shift Documentary, James Cameron: A Pain In The Neck]
* [http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JcameronJ.htm Short Biography with excerpts from his writing]
* [http://micksinclair.com/nme/cameron.html Obituary]