Frank McGuinness

Who was Frank McGuinness?

Francis Vincent McGuinness was an Australian newspaper editor and father of the journalist, P. P. McGuinness.

Frank started off his career in journalism at the Geelong Advertiser but was sacked after 'decking' his editor. He also worked for three years at The Farmers Advocate, a metropolitan daily newspaper launched in 1917 as a mouthpiece for the newly formed Victorian Farmers Union, of which his father Michael McGuinness was a leading member. Frank also worked for the Melbourne Herald, and The Sun News Pictorial.

From 1931 Frank was the editor of the weekly tabloid Melbourne newspaper The Truth, which was owned by Ezra Norton. In December 1939 Frank was called as a witness at the Royal Commission which was investigating allegations of bribery to block the passing of the Milk Board Bill and Money-lenders Bill through the Victorian parliament. Frank refused to reveal the source behind articles that he had written in September 1939 which suggested that certain persons were collecting funds for the purpose of bribing members of the Victorian Parliament . He was subsequently fined £15 by the Victorian Supreme Court for an offence against the Evidence Act 1928 for refusing to answer questions without a lawful excuse.