James Edward Macartney (15 July 1911 – 21 September 1977) was an Australian newspaper editor and executive from Perth, Western Australia.
Macartney attended The High School in Perth, and went on to the University of Western Australia, where he edited two student publications, Sruss-Sruss and Pelican.
In 1934, he was made editor of the Broadcaster, a new weekly magazine published by WAN (the parent company of The West Australian).
During his involvement with WAN, which had a virtual monopoly on the newspaper market in Western Australia, Macartney largely had his papers adopt right-wing positions, advocating free enterprise policies and supporting Australia's involvement in Vietnam.
In 1952, he circumvented restrictions on media coverage of Operation Hurricane (a nuclear test in the Montebello Islands) by sending a team to a remote location near the Rough Range, which was able to capture the only press photographs of the event.