James McCullough Remembered as One of the “Truly Great” Financial Correspondents

New Zealand-born James McCullough, one of Australia’s best-known financial journalists and columnists, and a former London correspondent for the Australian, has died at 56 in Brisbane.

McCullough was the long-time writer of the influential City Beat column in Brisbane’s Courier-Mail, but also an assistant editor of the newspaper, and wrote widely about business matters across several sections.

He started his career with the New Zealand Herald in 1977 before coming to Australia in 1980, when he worked as a business journalist for news agency AAP before joining the Australian as a business journalist in 1986.

“James was a larger-than-life figure in the Australian business community, revered and sometimes feared by those he wrote about, and absolutely loved by every one of his colleagues and friends,” editor of the Courier-Mail Christopher Dore said.

“In his three decades as a business journo, James has covered all the big stories with style, and developed one of the best contact books in Brisbane.

“He will be fondly remembered as one of the great, truly colourful, old-school correspondents, who was still having a remarkable influence on the young generation of journalists in the newsroom.”

Original article by Andrew Fraser, The Australian, July 18, 2014.

Photo by News Limited.