My father Simon Townsend died on 14 January 2025, aged 79. He left behind five decades of journalism, a children's television show that shaped a generation, a conscientious objector case that reshaped Australian law, and hundreds of practical factsheets he used to teach the craft to young journalists.
This site exists to preserve that teaching. It is a tribute, built by me, Mike Townsend, Simon's son. The writing here is his. The site framing, the editorial additions on a small number of flagship pages, and the occasional factual update are mine. Where I have added material that is not his original writing, I have labelled it clearly.
What you will find here
Roughly 270 articles on the craft of journalism, covering everything from apostrophes to freelance rates, pitching editors, interviewing children, and the ethics of chequebook journalism. There are 17 longer flagship pieces that I wrote in his voice to fill gaps in the archive. There is a biography of Simon, the Wonder World hub, and a section of reading paths depending on where you are in the trade.
Who Simon was
Simon started on The Gosford Express at 16, aged his way through The Sun, The Weekend Australian, A Current Affair, ABC's This Day Tonight, and CNN. In 1968 he was jailed for refusing Vietnam conscription, a case that changed the law. In 1979 he created Simon Townsend's Wonder World!, which ran for 1,961 episodes on Network Ten, won five Logies, and produced the first ever INXS music video. Full story on the biography page.
Why this exists
My father spent the last decades of his working life teaching journalism by email. Writers would send him queries and he would reply with a factsheet. Hundreds of them. They were never collected, never published, never indexed. When he died I found them scattered across old hard drives and email folders. It seemed wrong to let them disappear.
So here they are. Rough in places. Very much of their time in others. His voice throughout. He would have hated any version of this that tidied him up. I have resisted the urge.
Credits
Photographs courtesy of the State Library of NSW, the National Film and Sound Archive, and the Townsend family. Wonder World archive materials held by the NFSA in a dedicated curated collection. Video clips on the official YouTube channel.
Get in touch
If you worked with Simon, if you have memories to share, or if you spot an error on the site, please drop me a line. I am slowly collecting contributions from Wonder World reporters and former colleagues.
The editorial
Where I have written new material in Simon's voice (the 17 flagship pages listed in the sitemap under editorial additions), I have labelled it at the top of the article. Simon's original writing is not altered in prose. Mechanical cleanup only: double spaces, old course references, email-me-for-the-factsheet lines, that kind of thing. His voice, rhythm, emphasis and !!! are his.