Nathan Johnston & the Angels of Libra - "Curtis (do you wanna be a star?)"
A friend posted a little live snipped of this band and this song on Instagram the other day and all of a sudden everything felt just a lot lesser dull. Nathan Johnston's voice is just the smoothest I've heard in a while. I just wanna take a shower in it. The 60s soul inspired sound of Angels of Libra and Johnston just make a perfect match. I assume I'll listen to their upcoming s/t album on repeat - it'll released on the 4th of November 2022.
(L-R: News Digital’s founding editor Bob Johnston in the newsroom named after him with current Managing Editor Stuart Watt and Director of News Gaven Morris - Photo: Tim Leslie)
At a recent function to mark the 20th anniversary of ABC News Digital, the Brisbane headquarters of the service was renamed the ‘Bob Johnston Newsroom’. As current Managing Editor Stuart Watt writes, it’s a fitting tribute to News Digital’s founding editor.
By Stuart Watt
It’s fair to say Bob Johnston played a key role in shaping the ABC News division we know today.
Bob was a pioneer of digital news in Australia. He launched ABC News Online – now known as ABC News Digital – 20 years ago, when the world wide web was first taking hold in popular consciousness.
VIDEO: This video produced in 1998 explains the News Online operation in the early days, followed by a video outlining the scale of News Digital today.
Bob would be the first to admit he had no idea what lay ahead. But there’s a reason for that – no-one did. When we established News Online’s first newsroom, just six of us in a converted underground carpark on the ABC’s old Toowong site in Brisbane, we had an inkling that the internet could become quite important. But we had no idea it would be such a dominant force for societal change, or that it would shake-up the news business forever.
In those days, broadband was a distant dream. Access via a 56k modem (remember that sound!) was the “information superhighway”. I remember the buzz around the office the first time we added a photo to a story. Where would this technical wizardry end? We have come so far in the intervening two decades. And much of the credit for that progress can be sheeted home to Bob.
(Bob’s surprise when he saw the sign ‘Bob Johnston Newsroom’ unveiled - Photo: Tim Leslie)
These days we all accept digital is an important part of the news mix. For younger Australians, it’s the primary platform for news consumption. But 20 years ago, it was little more than a distraction. Why would we invest time, effort and (heaven forbid) money in what was clearly a novelty? Surely in TV and radio, we had pure news media. This internet thing would never catch on. When we suggested segmenting stories from the 7pm news to distribute online, we were lectured on the “synergy” of the 7pm bulletin. “The whole is greater than the sum of the parts,” we were told.
A lesser man would have folded in the teeth of what varied from ambivalence to outright hostility. But not Bob. It’s due to his tenacity that News Online was able to grow. From six people to eight, eight to 12, then to 18, 20 and beyond. Today, there are more than 100 people in digital roles across the News division.
(L-R: Stuart Watt, Bob Johnston and Bob’s son Nathan - Photo: Tim Leslie)
So what kind of a leader was Bob? First and foremost, he was a journo’s journo. Bob has a great nose for a story. He started his career in newspapers in Townsville, before joining the ABC bureau as a radio reporter there. Eventually he came to Brisbane where he reported on politics for radio news. He moved into management, serving as the Queensland Radio News Editor until that post, and its TV equivalent, were merged after the 1996 Federal Budget.
While no luddite, Bob was never quite on the cutting edge of new technology. But he was a great champion for those who were. He fostered a great spirit of experimentation in the News Online newsroom, never afraid to try something new. In his time at the helm we racked up an impressive list of firsts – the first rolling, online breaking news service in Australia, first with “read for the web” audio bulletins, first to post regional news online, first with TV-style video news – even at a time when only a handful of Australians could view such a service, so appalling were dial-up speeds.
(Stuart Watt and his Digital team celebrate 20 years - Photo: Tim Leslie)
To do all this Bob had to win the funding argument with people who thought he was speaking a different language. He cajoled, begged, pleaded and threatened to win resources. And he was cunning – in a good way, of course. If there has been a better “operator” in the ABC in the past 20 years, I’d like to shake that person’s hand.
Bob also had a great capacity to inspire people, to lay out the vision and to win from them complete buy-in. This was vital for our survival. From the very start, News Online recruited young go-getters with very little experience. But Bob also had to convince experienced broadcast journos to leave the safety of radio and TV and take a punt on us. That so many of them did is a credit to their professional bravery, and to Bob’s ability to sell them the fairytale.
Once you were on the News Online team, it was easy to give Bob 100 per cent loyalty. We knew he would go to the barricades and stare down the guns for us, even when we were in the wrong. In return, he demanded our best, every shift, every week. And he wasn’t above giving a bollocking. The unfortunate person would be summoned to his office, the door would shut, the venetian blinds would be twisted shut and a sombre silence would descend on the newsroom until the victim emerged. He was always fair, but Bob could be hard when he had to be.
(Director of News Gaven Morris talks about the significance of the phone in journalism today - Photo: Tim Leslie)
Almost everything we do in digital spaces at ABC News today owes its origins to Bob, but his greatest legacy is less tangible. In his time as News Online’s editor, Bob built a team with an amazing culture. It’s tough being the digital disruptor in a broadcast organisation. It would be easy to wallow in self-pity. But Bob wouldn’t allow that. Our approach was to strive for continuous improvement, to pull together – one cohesive unit striving to serve our audience as well as possible every day. It’s a culture that has built incredible resilience and seen the team punch above its weight to this day. There is nothing the News Digital team cannot cope with. And that’s due to the traits Bob instilled in the team from its earliest days.
For 13 sometimes difficult years Bob battled every day to build the service that more than 4 million Australians now use every month. He’s done it with great integrity and with his own brand of self-deprecating humour. He’s been a great mentor and friend through some incredibly difficult times for many.
This month we recognised that contribution by naming the Brisbane HQ of News Digital the Bob Johnston Newsroom. It’s a fitting tribute to a great news man.
(Bob Johnston with some members of the original News Online team - Photo: Tim Leslie)
More stories about ABC News Digital here.
Click here to return to the Back Story home page or catch up on stories from the past four years on our archive page.
NEW SINGLE, ‘I FELL IN LOVE,’ with Angels of Libra DROPS THIS OCTOBER 3RD
I am releasing a new song with Angels of Libra next month. It is the first single from our upcoming record, ‘Road to Mandalay’
It’s called ‘I Fell in Love’ and it comes out on Friday October 3rd 2025
About the song:
I wrote this song with Dennis Rux - founder, producer & guitarist for the Angels of Libra, in his kitchen.
Dennis’ apartment is in St Pauli in Hamburg, just off the Reeperbahn, where the Beatles cut their teeth each night before they blew up.
The kitchen, equipped with vintage 60s wallpaper, an old tube radio and one of those old school Italian espresso machines always puts me in a retro mood.
We were sat there listening to various records between cups of coffee and later on, Rum & Cokes (or YeahYeahYeah Schørles) as they are known in the Komet Music Bar around the corner, named after Dennis’ recording studio,YeahYeahYeah! Studios.
I remember that we were on a bit of a Beatles vibe that day and were talking a lot about backing vocals and tunes that feature a ‘call and response.’
So we came up with this, ‘I Fell in Love / With you Baby’ part and the song basically wrote itself very quickly from there.
I recorded a guide track to the song in my flat in Dublin and then we then brought the tune to the rest of the band and over the next months it just grew into this lovely upbeat, sun shining hopper.
It’s a pretty straightforward love song but a groovy one too and with just the right amount of cheese. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
I will send upload a Pre-save link a week before the release. :)
Pre-save is so important these days for the streaming services. It helps the algorithm gather early interest to make decisions such as what audience it should present the song to and what playlists to push the song towards.
It all helps with promoting the song and ultimately leads to more shows down the line. Once we have the link, we’d love it if you can pre-save it and give us a follow on wherever you get your music
Carlisle man jailed for attacking pal loses sentence appeal A THUG who left his pal with an appalling brain injury after a single-punch Carlisle attack has had a sentence appeal rejected. Full story: https://www.cumbriacrack.com/2019/01/30/carlisle-man-jailed-for-attacking-pal-loses-sentence-appeal/
Carlisle man who left friend with life-changing brain injury is jailed A MAN who attacked his friend at a Carlisle house party and left him with a life-changing brain injury has been jailed for three-and-a-half years. Full story: https://www.cumbriacrack.com/2018/07/13/carlisle-man-who-left-friend-with-life-changing-brain-injury-is-jailed/
