David Penberthy

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David Penberthy is editor of The Daily Telegraph in Sydney, Australia.

He studied at The University of Adelaide in the late 1980s. He was the 1990 co-editor of On Dit, the newspaper of the University's Students' Association. Whilst at uni, he was also the President of CISCAC, the Committee in Solidarity with Central America and the Caribbean, a Marxist political club. In addition he fronted punk band "Cervera Y Putas", which played cover songs of such bands as The Smiths, sung in Spanish, a language Penberthy acquired while on student exchange in South America.

Penberthy started his career as an industrial relations reporter and then political reporter for the Adelaide-based The Advertiser, hired by then editor Piers Akerman, now a conservative columnist at The Daily Telegraph.

One of Penberthy's more famous moments as a reporter came with his "Five Star Asylum" piece, an article headlined "The truth about how inmates are treated inside Australia's detention centres.'[1]

When he was named editor, a surprise to many in the industry, the website Crikey.com noted:

"Dave is a tabloid man through and through. He holds that infamous history of the London Sun, Stick It Up Your Punter, in much the same regard as generations of eminent Victorians venerated Samuel Smiles's moral manual Self-Help. His work is quirky, clever and makes a point by laughing along with people, not talking down to them.

"The Telegraph is Australia's most self-consciously tabloid tabloid. Dave knows the formula is wonderful – and slightly ridiculous. Dave knows the significance of brilliant populism, of the unique tabloid mixture of speaking for the people, loud and proud, while not taking yourself entirely seriously. But surely the most interesting aspect of his appointment is that rather than going for a veteran, News Limited has put a member of the generation that does not read newspapers in charge of its flagship Australian tabloid. The implications for The Telegraph – and Australian print in general – will be fascinating."

As editor, Penberthy came under intense pressure over the publication of stories focusing on then NSW Liberal Party leader John Brogden, who was accused of making inappropriate comments to the journalist Justine Ferrari while drunk. The Daily Telegraph said there was evidence of more serious issues concerning Brogden, who later apparently tried to commit suicide [2].