‘I’m one of the lucky ones’: Former 7News Adelaide presenter Jessica Adamson speaks out a month on from her shock axing
In the days after Jess Adamson’s shock axing from 7News, her phone didn’t stop pinging with messages of support, all the way up to the Premier. She admits there were some dark days – but now she’s looking to the future.
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“Grief is the price we pay for love,” The Queen reminded the world just days after the horror of the September 11 terror attacks.
It was those wise words and hundreds of messages from people across Australia that lifted former 7News presenter Jess Adamson in the dark days following her shock axing from the network after almost a quarter of a century.
Not that she’s in any way comparing her job loss to that tragedy. As she tells the Sunday Mail – she’s one of the lucky ones.
“I’m very conscious that I’m one of thousands of South Australians who have lost their jobs,” Adamson said. “I was in Norwood last week and saw the Centrelink queue winding up The Parade. It’s just awful. We are living in such unpredictable times.”
Five weeks on, she’s feeling fantastic, energised and genuinely excited about her new life, but admits she was completely devastated on June 24.
“The first few days after I was told the news were pretty dark but I guess you expect that when you spent more than half your life in one workplace.” Adamson said. “Her Majesty reminded us after September 11, grief is the price we pay for love. I just loved my time at Channel 7. I had a ball. It was a wild ride but one that I loved every part of.”
While it was a brutal blow, the timing actually couldn’t have been better for the mother-of-three. It was just before the winter school holidays, Adamson and husband Dave headed away with their kids – twins Angus and Louis, 11 and daughter Sophie, 8.
First up the Murray River and then to the South East, where bonfires, fresh air and a glass (or two) of red wine were the perfect panacea for her soul.
Along with the constant pinging of her phone with uplifting messages, emails and calls from everyone from the Premier Steven Marshall, SA Police Commissioner Grant Stevens, MPs on both sides of parliament, AFL players, her colleagues at Seven and rival networks Nine and Ten.
While packing up her desk and farewelling her colleagues was awful, telling her kids was actually worse.
“Little Soph was most concerned that she’d miss the Channel 7 children’s Christmas party,” Adamson says with a laugh. “We picked up the boys from school and told them as we drove out the school gate. Angus’ little voice pipes up from the back of the car saying ‘well, at least Mum, you got to achieve your dreams. Many people don’t.’
“I think I cried all the way home after that. But he’s right. In fact what I achieved at Seven is more than my wildest dreams. When I first walked into that building, I didn’t think I’d last the day, let alone a week, let alone 24 years. I did achieve my dreams and a lot more.”
Growing up on a farm in Hallett, later boarding at Loreto College, she never imagined she’d cover some of Australia’s – and the world’s – biggest stories, from the Snowtown murders, Whyalla Airlines crash, Beaconsfield Mine disaster to Peter Falconio’s murder and the subsequent years-long legal battle that saw Bradley Murdoch convicted.
She also became a highly sought-after network news reporter travelling the globe. Adamson was in Banda Aceh after the devastation of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, and Bali following the bombings and for the eventual trials of the terrorists.
The ultimate assignment and accolade for any Seven journalist is covering the Olympic Games. Adamson did two: Sydney “the happiest two weeks of my life, I walked around with a smile on my face the entire time”, and Beijing: “I’d just found out I was pregnant with the twins. I didn’t tell the network because I knew they wouldn’t let me go.”
Her Seven colleagues have become family – two of her closest friends are fellow trailblazing women Jane Doyle and Rosanna Mangiarelli. Mangiarelli was named as Adamson’s successor to the weekend presenting role. Has that made things at all tricky between the pair?
“We are still good friends,” Adamson says. “I rang her a day after it happened to congratulate her and I absolutely genuinely wish her all the very best. Seven Adelaide is in great hands with Rosanna and Jane at the helm.”
She candidly admits she did wonder if she’d lose her identity. After all she’d been “Jessica Adamson reporting for Seven News” for more than half her life.
“Television can be a brutal business,” Adamson says. “I’ve always known my day would come and I have wondered over the years If I would lose my identity if – or when – I did leave. But what I’ve found is, I’ve actually found my identity. I’m so excited about what I can do for our great state.”
She’s just about to launch Jess Adamson Media to continue working with SA businesses. And she will continue as ambassador for the Royal Flying Doctor Service, Canteen and as a board member for Breakthrough Mental Health Research Foundation and SIDS & Kids SA.
“I’m a passionate South Australian and passionate about our regions and our tourism spots,” Adamson says. “I genuinely believe if we all do the right things and stay healthy, our state can lead the nation out of this (economic) mess and I want to be right in the thick of that.”
