'' at Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour 2012 Buttrose was appointed women's editor of the
Telegraph at just 23 years old. In 1966 she won a racetrack fashion contest run by a rival newspaper, for which the first prize was an overseas trip, including a visit to
Expo 67 in Montreal. Buttrose and her husband then stopped in England in 1967 where she worked for a time on the British national magazine ''
Woman's Own before giving birth to her first child, a daughter, Kate. This was originally intended as an Australian edition of the American magazine Cosmopolitan, but the deal fell through after Hearst Magazines sold the Cosmopolitan
rights to longtime Packer rivals Fairfax; so Packer and Buttrose set about creating a new publication, dubbed Cleo
, which they launched in 1972 several months ahead of its rival. Cleo'' was an instant hit, selling its entire original print run in just two days; the magazine broke new ground in Australian mainstream publishing, featuring the first nude male
centrefold (actor
Jack Thompson) and frank articles on female sexuality and other topics, leading to the inclusion of the first sealed section in an Australian magazine. During the early months of the magazine, Buttrose became pregnant with her second child, Ben, but with the grudging support of the Packers she worked through her pregnancy; an unusual feat for that time as it was still common for women to have to give up work permanently after they became pregnant. Buttrose edited
Cleo until 1975, when she was appointed editor of the Packers' flagship magazine, ''The Australian Women's Weekly'' (1975–76). She then became editor-in-chief of both publications from 1976 to 1978, before being appointed publisher of Australian Consolidated Press Women's Division from 1978 to 1981. In 1981, she left the Packers after their rival
Rupert Murdoch offered her the job of editor-in-chief of the
Daily Telegraph and
Sunday Telegraph, making her the first female editor of a major metropolitan newspaper in Australia, a position she held until 1984; she was also appointed to the board of
News Limited. During the period 1982-1983 she also had her own weekend radio talk back show simply titled
Ita for the 2UE radio station. She made frequent appearances on radio and TV and in 1980, her media prominence led to her becoming the subject of the song "
Ita", recorded by rock band
Cold Chisel, which was included on their successful
East album. Buttrose was chair of the National Advisory Committee on AIDS (NACAIDS) from 1984 until 1988. On one occasion, she appeared personally in a nationwide TV campaign to explain that donating blood at a blood bank did not pose a risk of catching AIDS (the fear of which had caused a significant drop in donations). During the mid- to late 1980s, she also had a regular weekly "Ask Ita" page for the magazine ''
Woman's Day'' which gave readers advice on personal issues. After her stint with News Limited, Buttrose founded her own publishing company, Capricorn Publishing, and launched her own magazine,
Ita, in 1989. Due to the recession and a decline in monthly sales the publication eventually folded and she launched a new company, the Good Life Publishing Company, which in 2005 published
bark!, a lifestyle magazine aimed at dog owners. Buttrose utilised the services of celebrity agent Max Markson to assist her with publicity and promotion. ==Television==