Jim Bowditch

James "Jim" Bowditch, (1919–1996) was an Australian newspaper editor who worked for the Alice Springs-based Centralian Advocate from 1950 to 1954 and the Darwin-based Northern Territory News from 1954 to 1973.

During his editorial career Bowditch campaigned for Aboriginal rights and a better deal for the Northern Territory from Canberra.

Early life Bowditch was born in London, part of a working–class family and one of five children. He left school aged 14 to support his family through the Great Depression and, aged 17, worked his passage to Australia on Port Dunedin in order to fulfil his childhood dream of becoming a farmer.

After the war Jim took on a number of roles, including as a door-to-door salesman and lighthouse keeper in Moreton Island.

Due to his political and union involvement, Bowditch soon came under the scrutiny of Australian Security Intelligence Organisation as a possible communist, and this investigation, in part, broke up his marriage with his first wife Iris. taking over from Alan Wauchope. At this point Bowditch was unable to type and taught himself via a three fingered method which became a trademark of his. The image was created using a photo of a household cup saucer, hanging by a piece of cotton from a tree, with a view of Mount Gillen. Bowditch claimed the image had been slipped under his front door.

Bowditch moved to Darwin with his new wife Betty, an Aboriginal woman he had met in Alice Springs. He was a staunch defender of interracial relationships at a time they were heavily policed throughout the Territory.

In Darwin Bowditch continued to be an advocate for social justice, to ‘rattle chains’ and become a subject of the news himself. Soon circulation almost doubled and, in 1959, Bowditch won a Walkley Award for "Best Provincial Newspaper Story" for his report of the search and rescue mission for the luxury yacht the Sea Fox which included a chain-smoking chimp called “Jimmy the Chimp” as a crew member.

Bowditch died in Darwin in 1996 and is buried at Thorak Regional Cemetery.

Works about Powell, A. (2018) "Sergeant James "Jim" Bowditch - a memory of World War 2", Northern Territory Historical Studies, (29), 80–83.

Legacy Bowditch was inducted into the Journalism Hall of Fame in 2018.

Bowditch Street in Muirhead is named for him.