Page 1
AUSTRALIAN NEWSPAPER HISTORY GROUP
NEWSLETTER
ISSN 1443-4962
No. 11 March 2001
Compiled for the ANHG by Rod Kirkpatrick, 13 Sumac Street, Middle Park, Qld, 4074,
07-3279 2279, r.k[email protected]
11.1 COPY DEADLINE, SUBSCRIPTION NOTICE AND WEBSITE ADDRESS
Deadline for copy for the next Newsletter is 30 April 2001.
The Newsletter is online through the “publications” link from the University of Queensland’s
Journalism Website at www.uq.edu.au/jrn/
CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS
11.2 NEW PAPERS HIT MELBOURNE TRACKS
News Ltd announced its first, but John Fairfax published its first: a commuter newspaper for
Melbourne. Fairfax launched their Melbourne Express on the morning of 5 February, and
News Ltd their MX on the afternoon of the same day. Both companies distributed about
60,000 copies of the 32-page tabloid papers. News Ltd‟s MX, a full-colour production, is
aimed at the 18 to 39 year old audience; Fairfax‟s Express is aimed at a slightly older
audience. News has secured exclusive distribution rights at rail platforms and will eventually
provide the papers to commuters in bins; Fairfax said it would continue to employ people to
hand out the Express outside train stations and elsewhere. According to MX’s rate card, a full
page ad costs $4,500; in the Express it costs $4,256.
On 26 January the Age had reported the impending News Ltd commuter paper. John Fairfax
Holdings had planned a similar paper called Express in Melbourne and Sydney in May 2000,
but abandoned the idea once News threatened to launch a rival publication. On 25 January
Julian Clarke, managing director of the Herald and Weekly Times, confirmed the company‟s
plan to launch a commuter newspaper. In the Sydney Morning Herald, Elizabeth Knight
commented that the last thing John Fairfax and News Ltd needed was a newspaper war. She
argued against Fairfax entering the fray if News Ltd did start a commuter paper.
Fairfax CEO Fred Hilmer said the decision to launch the morning giveaway was to avoid a
head-to-head battle, not to hurt the Herald Sun. “There are two goals here: one is to build a
new market and the second is to do it in a way that complements the position we have with
The Age,” he said. “There‟s no goal of damaging the Herald Sun. That's fruitless. We are in a
position of building markets.” Text Media boss Eric Beecher said the issue was not about
what any paid-for newspaper might lose in the short term. The war on the freebie front could
signal a much more fundamental shift for regular newspapers. “The issue is not individual
titles,” Beecher said. “To me, the issue is, are they creating a new currency, and if that
currency catches on, will that new currency in a generic sense start to replace the old
currency?”
(References to note: Age, 26 January, 2, 5, 7 and 10 February; “Extra, extra, read all about it!” SMH, 27
January 01, p.29; “Blood on the tracks” by Mark Day, Australian, Media liftout, 1 February 01, pp.6-7;
Herald Sun, 5 February, p.2; “Extra, extra, read all about the paper war”, Australian, 6 February 2001,
p.5; Australian Financial Review, 6 February, p.43; and “Commuters in the firing line in tabloid war”,
Age „News Extra‟, 10 February, p.3.)
Australian Newspaper History Group Newsletter No 11 March 2001 Page 2
11.3 CHRONOLOGY OF RECENT EVENTS
2 October 2000
Death: Wilfred Henry McClung in Newcastle, aged 92; began as reader
on Newcastle Sun in 1924; represented Newcastle and Sydney Suns in
Maitland and later Cessnock; Newcastle representative of Daily
Telegraph 1944-74 (Newcastle Herald, 12 October 00).
6 December 2000
Death: James Robert North, in Sydney, aged 68; began 53-year media
career in 1947 as copy boy on Sydney Sun; also worked for Daily Mirror
and Daily Telegraph before joining ABC for 11 years as industrial and
political roundsman; president, NSW branch of Australian Journalists‟
Association, 1966-73 and full-time secretary, 1972-79 (Australian, 20
Dec 00, p.12; Sydney Morning Herald, 22 December 00, p.26).
8 December 2000
Death: Kevin Sattler, in Adelaide, aged 72; superb racing writer and TV
commentator in South Australia; started career on Sydney Sun (Alliance,
February/March 2001, pp.8-9).
13 December 2000
Death: John Michael Robson, at Karori, NZ, aged 61; rose from cadet
journalist to managing director of Independent Newspapers Ltd., New
Zealand‟s biggest media group (Australian, 8 January 01, p.10).
28 December 2000
Death: Peter Cullen, in Wollongong, aged 61; editor, Illawarra
Mercury, Wollongong, NSW, 1985-98; achieved national prominence
with crusade against paedeophilia in Illawarra district; his tabloid
journalism much targeted by ABC-TV‟s Media Watch (Australian, 29
December 00, p.4, 9 January 01, p.19, obit.; SMH, Canberra Times,
Daily Telegraph, Illawarra Mercury, 29 December 00) [see 11.46.10].
28 December 2000
Death: Edward Charles (Ted) Bennett, at Wyong, aged 76;
distinguished career as trade union leader of printing workers and then as
Australian Industrial Relations Commissioner; began war-interrupted
apprenticeship in 1940 as hand compositor with Associated Newspapers;
joined John Fairfax and in 1956 became foundation father of the Herald-
Sun chapel (Australian, 16 January 01, p.13).
31 December 2000
Death: John Irvine Moorhead, died in Grafton, aged 78; joined Daily
Examiner, Grafton, as cadet, 1941; became editor, 1960-77, and then
chairman of directors; mayor of Grafton at age 30 (Sydney Morning
Herald, 18 January 01, p.31).
1 January 2001
Obituary: Lindsay Carroll, in Melbourne, aged 83; journalist, poet,
pilot; worked mainly for Commonwealth News and Information Bureau;
helped organise media centre for Melbourne Olympics, 1956; public
affairs officer for Australian High Commissions in Pakistan and
Singapore (SMH, p.12).
13 January 2001
Death: James William Murcott, aged 57; journalist who contributed
significantly to concept and practice of defensive driving; joined
Australian United Press as cadet in Melbourne at age 16 (Age, 16 January
01, “Today”, p.9).
30 January 2001
Obituary: Noel Charles Capel Bennett, died in Sydney aged 72;
architect nearly 30 years ago of weekly computer pages in Australian,
now big contributor to the paper‟s revenues (Sydney Morning Herald, 30
January 01, p.31)
30 January 2001
Death: Harold Alexander Richardson, in Canberra, aged 84;
distinguished reporter, war correspondent and editor; began career on
Daily Advertiser, Wagga Wagga; worked for Sydney‟s Sun, Melbourne‟s
Herald and Argus, and edited the Maitland Mercury (Age, 27 February
01, “Today”, p.7).
5 February 2001
Fairfax and News Ltd launch commuter papers in Melbourne (see 11.2).
10 February 2001
Weekend Australian introduces design changes (see 11.11).
Australian Newspaper History Group Newsletter No 11 March 2001 Page 3
11.4 FAIRFAX (1): ITS EDITORS IN CHIEF
The John Fairfax publishing group wanted to swap its editors-in-chief/publishers: Steve
Harris to Sydney and Greg Hywood to Melbourne. Harris refused to move and resigned.
Hywood shifted to Melbourne. Alan Revell replaced Hywood in Sydney. Fairfax chief
executive Fred Hilmer said it had been decided in April 2000 to swap Harris and Hywood.
Why? “The Age, with its printing capacity to be expanded next year by the new $220 million
plant at Tullamarine is about to enter a new era. Greg [Hywood] can bring all the experience
from the Herald’s recent [production and printing] expansion and design to the Age‟s readers
and advertisers.” Errol Simper reported that some insiders had speculated that Fairfax had
wanted Harris to oversee a merger of the Sydney Morning Herald and Sun-Herald into much
the same format as the Age and the Sunday Age, which form effectively a seven-day
newspaper. (Sydney Morning Herald, 9 January 01, p.2; Australian, 9 January 01, p.2, and
Media liftout, 11 January 01, p.4.)
11.5 FAIRFAX (2): THE GAMES
Who were the worst losers at the Sydney Olympics? Possibly John Fairfax Holdings Ltd, with
a $25 million loss. News Ltd lost $5 million. Their losses were part of a disappointing overall
result for Australia newspapers, not only financially but also in circulation terms („Olympic-
sized losses on Games coverage‟, PANPA Bulletin, December 2000, p.5; see also „“Here is
the news and it‟s not all that flash‟, Australian, 2 January 01, p.17).
Fairfax posted a net profit of $77.4 million for the 31 December half-year, 36 per cent down
on the $121 million result the previous year. It blamed the Olympics, the slowing economy
and industrial action at its Melbourne plant. (Courier-Mail, 17 February 01, p.65; Weekend
Australian, 17-18 February 01, p.31)
11.6 SMH (1): EDITORIAL INDEPENDENCE
Spiros Zavos, recently retired leader write for the Sydney Morning Herald: “I remember in the
days of James Fairfax going for lunch with him one day, and he said we were giving the
monorail proposal too hard a time, and he thought the monorail might be a good idea. I went
back down after lunch, and just to assert editorial independence I wrote a tough anti-monorail
editorial. You could do that at the Herald. That was the culture of the place.” (Australian,
Media liftout, 28 December 00, p.3; see also 11.46.4).
11.7 SMH (2): LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Sydney Morning Herald letters editor Jeni Harvie summarised the issues that captured the
imagination of writers of letters to the editor in 2000 (30 December 00, p.27). They ranged
from doom for the GST to the death of Johnno (which turned the spotlight on the Northern
Territory‟s mandatory sentencing laws), from the Olympics to genetically modified food,
from Peter Reith‟s Telecard to the redesign of the Herald (which attracted much negative
comment); there was even space for a discussion on why people write letters to the editor [see
6.17 in Newsletter No. 6].
11.8 SMH (3): GRANNY DISAPPEARS
Granny has disappeared. She was last seen on 6 January 2001. Foul play has not been ruled
out. Yes, the sketch of Granny that regained pride of place at the head of Column 8 when this
well-read feature of the Sydney Morning Herald shifted from Page 1 to the back of the front
section on 31 July 2000 has gone. She slipped away during the night and no trace has been
found. The editor of Column 8 noted on 29 July 2000: “The Granny you will see at the top of
Australian Newspaper History Group Newsletter No 11 March 2001 Page 4
the column may have a masculine look. It is, in fact, a caricature of Sid Deamer, originator of
the column and its author for 14 years.”
11.9 SMH (4): $2 A WEEK
“For just $2 a week, students can have their own copy of the Sydney Morning Herald
delivered directly to school each day, Monday through Friday.” SMH advertisement, 20
January 01, p.44.
11.10 SMH (5): ITALIAN NEWSPAPER WAR IN AUSTRALIA
Victor Isaacs writes: A circulation battle between two of Italy's leading newspapers is being
waged partially in Australia. Since last year, Sydney's La Fiamma and Melbourne's Il Globo
have carried daily copies of Rome's La Repubblica. To achieve this both La Fiamma and Il
Globo moved to daily publication, and so should be added to the list of non-English language
daily newspapers in Australia recorded in item 8.23 of Newsletter no.8. Il Globo also
changed to tabloid form at to accommodate La Repubblica. Now the Sydney Morning Herald
is carrying La Repubblica’s competitor, the prestigous Corriere Della Sera of Milan. This,
too, is now transmitted to Australia for local distribution. It is inserted into some copies of
the SMH on sale in selected areas of Sydney; they sell for $1.50, 40c more than normal. To
attempt to sew up this market, these copies of the SMH also include copies of La Gazzetta
dello Sport, claimed to be Italy's most widely read sports paper. The Corriere Della Sera and
La Gazzetta dello Sport are also expected to be included in selected copies of the Age,
Melbourne, by the end of the year. This Italian newspaper war is also being played out in
Buenos Aires, Toronto and New York. (Source: “Fairfax learns Italian”, Australian, Media
liftout, 8 February 01, p.11; see 11.46.19.)
11.11 DESIGN CHANGES FOR WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN
In the issue of 10-11 February the Weekend Australian introduced “some significant
changes”. Editor-in-chief David Armstrong and editor Campbell Reid said: “The changes
today include a new column by pre-eminent commentator Paul Kelly, illustrated by the
nation‟s most biting cartoonist, Bill Leak. They appear in „Inquirer‟, a section devoted to
commentary and investigative journalism. „Weekend Money‟ is our new business and
personal investment section and „Review‟ introduces new columns, regular features and a
new look.” Reader comment was invited on the changes. Email to
special@theaustralian.com.au
11.12 ADVERTISING OUTLOOK
A survey of national advertisers suggests that advertising expenditure will increase by 8.7 per
cent in 2001. The AIS Media Futures report, based on a survey of 80 national advertisers and
29 media executives, has found that despite a projected slowdown in the economy, advertisers
are set to inject an extra $361.1 million into the market. The survey has been conducted
annually since 1985 and last year was accurate (Australian, 8 December 00, p.21).
11.13 RETIREMENT (1): DAVID LONSDALE (Qld)
David Lonsdale, group editorial manager of Australian Provincial Newspapers, retired in
October after 40 years in regional newspapers. He is a former editor of the Illawarra
Mercury, the Sunshine Coast Daily and the Manning River Times, Taree. He has also been
general manager of the Daily Mercury, Mackay, and of the Daily News, Tweed Heads, as well
as being the regional manager for APN newspapers in northern Queensland and northern New
South Wales („Lonsdale closes 40-year career‟, PANPA Bulletin, December 00, pp.78-79).
Australian Newspaper History Group Newsletter No 11 March 2001 Page 5
11.14 RETIREMENT (2): DENIS THOMPSON (WA)
Denis Thompson, managing director of West Australian Newspaper Holdings, retired in
February after 10 years at the helm of the group that runs the highly profitable West
Australian (PANPA Bulletin, December 00, p.79).
11.15 ASK A JOURNALIST
Belinda Weaver reports: (1) The UK Daily Telegraph has introduced a section called “Ask a
Journalist”. See it at: www.telegraph.co.uk/
(2) OFFSTATS aims to be the most comprehensive source of links to official statistics from
different countries. It‟s at www.auckland.a.c.nz/lbr/stats/offstats/OFFSTATSmain.htm
11.16 FEDERATION (1): KEEPING IT IN THE FAMILY
Watching the Federation parade on Monday, 1 January 2001, Roy Pugh, of Terrigal, New
South Wales, was able to check what he was seeing against what happened 100 years before.
He had spread out on the table the Sydney Morning Herald of 2 January 1901 and of 1
January 2001. The 1901 paper had been kept in his family and the 2 January 2001 issue of
the Herald has joined it in the archives for some descendant to use in another 100 years.
(Source: Column 8, SMH, 5 January 01, p.16.)
11.17 FEDERATION (2): THE PAPERS
The Canberra Times published a 60-page magazine, „Australia 100 years a nation”, on 1
January and the Daily Telegraph reproduced its 1 January 1901 edition. On 30-31 December,
the Weekend Australian produced an eight-page broadsheet supplement, “100 not out” and the
Sydney Morning Herald a 20-page tabloid supplement, “Australia‟s century”, which featured
a full page of cartoons from Moir that began and ended with a white Prime Minister sitting on
the back of an indigenous man who mouths: “One day they‟ll apologise.” On 29 December,
the Illawarra Mercury published a 32-page magazine, “Celebrating Our Nation: All People
One Destiny”. The Courier, Ballarat, published an editorial, “Ballarat at the forefront of
Federation” (1 January 01, p.8), noting that 97 per cent of Ballarat voters had supported
Federation at the 1898 referendum, and even more supported it a year later. Melbourne‟s
Herald Sun published an eight-page centenary-of-federation wraparound. On 1 January, the
Australian reproduced on Page 1 the key document that turned the colonies into the
Australian nation – Queen Victoria‟s formal letter establishing the office of governor-general.
This was part of a four-page wraparound which included an article by novelist David Malouf
and a series of historical black-and-white photographs.
The Sydney Morning Herald, on 1 January, produced a four-page wraparound with a centre
spread of photographs dominated by one of Centennial Park, Sydney, on 1 January 1901.
Brisbane‟s Courier-Mail had an eight-page wraparound, “Birth of our nation”, that included
two major articles – one of which dealt with the Prime Ministers since 1901. Many provincial
and suburban papers focused on Federation in one way or another. For example, Melbourne‟s
Lilydale and Yarra Valley Express carried a front-page colour photograph of a baby lying on
the national flag, headed “Centenary of Federation, 1901-2001”. The South Coast Register, a
tri-weekly serving the Nowra and Shoalhaven district on the New South Wales south coast,
ran a front-page story, “New era dawns”. On the back page of the Yass Tribune, NSW, Betty
Howard discussed the National Gallery‟s “Federation” exhibition. Howard is a member of the
Mudge family that owned the Tribune for 46 years. The Manning River Times, Taree, NSW,
ran a front-page story about a female descendant of Australia‟s first Prime Minister: she gave
birth on 1 January 2001 at the Manning Base Hospital.
Australian Newspaper History Group Newsletter No 11 March 2001 Page 6
11.18 FEDERATION (3): 100 MOST INFLUENTIAL AUSTRALIANS
From 22-26 January the Sydney Morning Herald published a five-part series of potted
biographies of “The 100 most influential Australians” of the 20
th
century. Tony Stephens
compiled the series, drawing on the Australian Dictionary of Biography, the Monash
Biographical Dictionary of 20
th
Century Australia, Ann Atkinson‟s Dictionary of Famous
Australians, the opinions of Herald colleagues and the work of Barry Jones. Stephens
acknowledged the list was subjective and could not be definitive. Faith Bandler (b. 1918),
daughter of a slave, and Edmund Barton, the nation‟s first Prime Minister, headed the
alphabetical list and Jim Wolfensohn (b. 1933), World Bank president, and poet Judith Wright
(1915-2000) were the final two on it.
11.19 FEDERATION (4): THE 25 PRIME MINISTERS
On Australia Day, as part of a four-page wraparound, the Sydney Morning Herald provided
potted biographies of Australia‟s 25 Prime Ministers in the first century since Federation.
11.20 PARLIAMENT JAILS A NEWSPAPER EDITOR AND AN OWNER
The only two people (a newspaper owner and his editor) tried and jailed by Federal
Parliament were refused legal representation and told they were witnesses when they gave
evidence that was later used to imprison them. This has been revealed in documents made
available by the National Archives 45 years after the event. In June 1955, newspaper
proprietor and contractor Raymond Fitzpatrick and journalist Frank Browne were jailed for
three months, and no one knew exactly why. The committee hearing was held behind closed
doors. Three days later they were jailed after being found guilty of a breach of privilege for
“publishing articles intended to intimidate and influence” an MP. The articles, which
appeared in the Bankstown Observer, were about the then member for the Sydney seat Reid,
Charles Morgan, and his alleged involvement in an immigration racket. The House voted 55
to 12 to jail Fitzpatrick and 55 to 11 to jail Browne, without seeing their evidence in full and
relying only on the privileges committee‟s extracts.
So why did the evidence remain secret so long? Probably largely because it included
allegations that a chief judge of the NSW Arbitration Court leaked secret wartime security
files and attempted to blackmail an MP, Charles Morgan. (Age and Sydney Morning Herald,
1 January 01; and Canberra Times, 2 January 01.)
11.21 SELECTIVE REPORTING OF CIRCULATION DATA
Newspapers are becoming increasingly selective in how they report the figures provided by
the Audit Bureau of Circulations. When the figures for the six months to 31 December 2000
were issued in February, the Sydney Morning Herald presented only the figures for the two
national papers, and the Sydney and Melbourne papers (daily and Sunday); the Australian
Financial Review reported the figures for the dailies only, but excluded Hobart, Canberra and
Darwin; the Australian presented all the figures but compared apples with oranges by
comparing the second half of the year with the first half of the year whereas it is traditional
now to compare with the corresponding period the previous year. Brisbane‟s Courier-Mail,
which has recently been presenting the best coverage of circulation data, presented no report
on 9 or 10 February. The Courier-Mail’s circulation slipped 2.81 per cent (to 212,356) on
weekdays in the six months and 1.6 per cent (to 329,637) on Saturdays.
In the table below, the biggest percentage increase for weekend papers was the Financial
Review’s 5.11 (with the Sunday Herald Sun following closely with 5.09); for weekday issues,
the best was the Australian, with 1.44. The only other weekday performer with an increase
was the Financial Review, 1.03. Seven weekend papers recorded an increase, one as small as
Australian Newspaper History Group Newsletter No 11 March 2001 Page 7
10 copies the Mercury, Hobart. Despite this, the Mercury boasts that it was one of only
four major Saturday papers around Australia to increase its circulation, but it fails to detail
what happened to its Monday-Friday circulation (which fell by 263). The weekday and
weekend papers listed in the table recorded a total loss of 142,845 sales, or 1.6 per cent.
Only nine of the 35 audited regional dailies recorded increases and two of those were
negligible. Best performer was the Daily Advertiser, Wagga Wagga, which jumped 5.33 per
cent. The Newcastle Herald gained 2.79 per cent. Significant losers were the Daily Liberal,
Dubbo (8.86pc), the Daily Mercury, Mackay (7.99pc), the Northern Star, Lismore (6.29pc),
the Morning Bulletin, Rockhampton (4.73pc) and the Chronicle, Toowoomba (3.06pc).
In the magazine sphere, a number of titles had significant circulation loses in the December
half. The Australian Women’s Weekly lost 39,000 (down to 704,000); Woman’s Day 34,000
(571,000); New Idea 34,000 (401,000); Family Circle 31,000 (120,000); and That’s Life
25,000 (405,000). [See SMH, 13 and 15 February 01, p.16 and p.29, respectively.]
Newspaper
Six months to
31/12/2000
Six months to
31/12/1999
Change %*
Australian (M-F)
132,959
131,069
+ 1.44
Australian (Sat.)
301,381
310,196
2.84
Australian Financial Review (M-F)
93,450
92,500
+ 1.03
AFR Weekend Edition (Sat.)
90,918
86,500
+ 5.11
Daily Telegraph (M-F)
412,190
427,000
3.47
Daily Telegraph (Sat.)
339,469
348,181
2.50
SMH (M-F)
223,484
226,500
1.33
SMH (Sat.)
379,317
386,500
1.86
Sun-Herald
568,202
584,000
2.71
Sunday Telegraph
721,092
711,009
+ 1.42
Herald Sun (M-F)
544,951
594,100
0.76
Herald Sun (Sat.)
504,150
502,000
+ 0.43
Age (M-F)
190,864
191,217
0.18
Age (Sat.)
309,478
324,075
4.50
Sunday Herald Sun
533,000
526,200
+ 5.09
Sunday Age
190,121
193,824
1.91
Courier-Mail (M-F)
212,356
218,498
2.81
Courier-Mail (Sat.)
329,637
335,000
1.61
Sunday Mail (Qld)
587,004
590,400
0.58
Advertiser (M-F)
200,383
205,259
2.38
Advertiser (Sat.)
270,932
272,081
0.42
Sunday Mail (SA)
342,376
345,100
0.79
West Australian (M-F)
205,669
214,415
4.08
West Australian (Sat.)
374,239
381,418
1.88
Sunday Times (WA)
342,278
344,240
0.57
Mercury (M-F)
48,722
48,985
0.54
Mercury (Sat.)
63,617
63,607
Negligible
Sunday Tasmanian
57,540
56,137
+ 2.50
Sunday Examiner
40,702
41,758
2.53
Canberra Times (M-F)
39,189
39,841
1.63
Canberra Times (Sat.)
70,000
70,125
0.18
Canberra Times (Sun.)
38,938
38,114
+ 2.16
Northern Territory News (M-F)
23,209
23,799
2.48
Northern Territory News (Sat.)
31,969
32,186
0.67
Sunday Territorian
25,759
26,556
3.00
Total
8,839,545
8,982,390
1.6
Australian Newspaper History Group Newsletter No 11 March 2001 Page 8
11.22 My Favourite Masthead
The editor asked electronic subscribers to this Newsletter what their most
fascinating masthead was. Here are some responses:
Brian O’Connor likes the masthead of the quarterfold Glasshouse Country News, Beerwah,
Queensland. The type has changed over the years, but it is superimposed on a photo of the
Glasshouse Mountains, indicating the paper‟s circulation area. He likes, also, the Queenscliffe
Herald, Victoria, began in November 1999. Designed by editor Greg Wane, its masthead
reflects the olde worlde charm of the town.
[Brian O‟Connor also believed that the Ovens and Murray Advertiser, Beechworth, still appeared under
the masthead it used when established on 6 January 1855. But it ain‟t so. The original masthead had
been dropped by the time the paper became a daily on 1 January 1857 (see Page 9). Doreen Blake says
the paper has clung to one masthead more than 100 years and the evidence is on the next page. Ken
and Doreen Blake owned the paper from 1960-80. Ken had worked on papers at Tumbarumba, Inverell,
Albury and Narrandera before buying the one at Beechworth. The weekly Ovens and Murray
Advertiser is now typeset in Myrtleford and printed at Wangaratta by North East Newspapers Pty. Ltd.
Editor.)
Bill Tully writes: Without a doubt my favourite masthead was and is that of London‟s
satirical magazine, Punch; it was still used in the late 1940s when I was a 12-year-old. Done
by Richard Doyle, a mid-19
th
century illustrator, it is a delightful amalgam of gnomes and
fairies surrounding Mr Punch, bestride either a donkey or a horse, carrying a phallic rod. It
was on a wraparound yellow cover also with advertisements; usually taken off for binding
in libraries and therefore only on preserved single copies! Private Eye, the 1960+ successor to
Punch (ambiguously sub-titling itself Punch’s prick) used part of the Doyle motif. Doyle‟s
mix of gothic complexity and childlike exuberance grabbed me as much in 1949 as it dies in
2001.
David McKnight writes: The one I like is the old Sydney Sun, which featured Apollo on his
chariot with the sun‟s rays shining forth. I think it was replaced in the sixties some time.
[Editor‟s note: Above Apollo and his chariot were the words: “Above All”; and below: “For
Australia”. These words had disappeared by the 1960s but Apollo and his chariot were still
there at the beginning of the seventies.]
Ken Sanz says there are two mastheads that have fascinated him: Colourfulness and ease of
identification: The Times and Northern Advertiser, Peterborough, South Australia had a large
black South Australian narrow-gauge railway locomotive (emitting plumes of smoke and
steam) in it where other more sedate newspapers such as the Melbourne broadsheets had
royalty crests. (The final issue under this title appeared on 26 March 1970. It was
amalgamated with the Northern Review, Jamestown [final issue, 25 March 1970] to become
the Review-Times from 2 April 1970. The first issue of the Review-Times contained a history
of the newspapers it had replaced.)
I still think that the most unusual masthead belongs to a free weekly produced at
Wentworthville in Sydney when I was a teenager – Man Friday. Presumably the publisher
was a fan of Daniel Defoe‟s Robinson Crusoe who had Man Friday do all the odd jobs and be
of general assistance to him. It was a typical suburban newspaper of the time and had a vast
circulation claim from Penrith to Parramatta and competed with Cumberland Newspapers
titles at Parramatta and Penrith. It was printed at the Mosman Daily, but it was not owned by
them.
Australian Newspaper History Group Newsletter No 11 March 2001 Page 9
Victor Isaacs finds some mastheads pretentious, or inappropriate. In the pretentious category,
Australia has some whoppers among major newspapers. The Age has arrogantly appropriated
the British Coat of Arms even though it was never an official publication. Even if the Coat of
Arms was once relevant to Australia, it is no longer. The Sunday Age also adopted the
British Coat of Arms, despite being founded only in 1989. While the Age is a giant, the
minnow Kalgoorlie Miner also bears this Coat of Arms, as though an official document.
The Canberra Times is peculiar for having on its masthead the slogan “To Serve the National
City and Through it the Nation”. This has appeared since the paper‟s foundation in 1926, but
Australian Newspaper History Group Newsletter No 11 March 2001 Page 10
the Canberra Times has never had anything like a national circulation, or except in its early
years (when interstate papers would have had a late arrival in Canberra) readership among
interstate Parliamentarians. The Canberra Times’ masthead has a second pretentious feature:
a map of Australia surrounded by the slogan “Proudly Australian Owned”. This was
introduced after Murdoch took out American citizenship and Fairfax was controlled by the
Canadian Conrad Black.
But possibly, the most pretentious of all is a newspaper that appropriates as its title ownership
of the whole country – the Australian. Some titles are now so inappropriate is to be silly – for
example, the Daily Telegraph. Young people might ask, “What is a telegraph? And what has
it to do with a newspaper?” Then there are compound titles which reflect newspaper history,
but which are mouthfuls – Herald Sun, Courier-Mail and News-Mail (of Bundaberg). [The
Courier-Mail has beneath its title: “For readers who expect more from life.”] Perhaps the
most inappropriate title is one whose meaning has changed – the Daily Liberal of Dubbo.
Once this title might have attracted a broad spectrum of readers, but since 1949 use of the
word “Liberal” has had such a specific meaning that perhaps 50 per cent of readers would
think twice about buying the publication.
The title Advertiser reflects a very outdated view of what is the most important function of a
newspaper. Among magazines, the Australian Women’s Weekly is a monthly, Woman’s Day
a weekly, and the oldest women‟s magazine is called New Idea.
[Greg Wane draws attention to the confusion about what the “masthead” really is. The John
Fairfax Education Unit issues a News Poster Kit that features a page with common newspaper
terms; “masthead” points to the title of the paper at the top of Page 1. Yet a definition of
“masthead” from Melvin Mencher‟s News Reporting and Writing reads: “Formal statement of
a newspaper‟s name, officers, place of publication and other descriptive information, usually
on the editorial page. Sometimes confused with flag or nameplate.” And Richard M. Harnett,
in Wirespeak, p.169, says: “Masthead The place in the paper where its owners, address,
chief editors are listed.” – Editor]
11.23 OUR NEWSPAPERS: ODD, UNUSAL, ENIGMATIC, CURRENT
From Sydney, Jurgen Wegner writes: In what could well be seen to have taken a leaf out of
our next higher education policy document Keith Dunstan in his The perfect cup: the story of
coffee (Castle Hill, NSW: David Ell Press for Andronicus, 1989) wrote: “Eighteenth century
coffee houses were a godsend to poor young intellectuals who came to London … [In the
eighteenth century] there were over 2000 coffee houses in London. They were on every street
corner. Here news and gossip was disseminated. They were called „penny universities‟. Great
men congregated there … For a penny you could while away two or three hours (you paid one
penny to enter and after that you could stay as long as you liked). You were not expected to
get to your feet when a great man entered, and it was possible to enter freely into any
conversation. [p. 21]
With unintentional foresight he goes on to quote from a 1672 broadsheet:
So great a universitie
I think there ne’er was any
In which you may a scholar be
For spending of a penny.
It shows that good quotations, like wine, mellow with age.
Australian Newspaper History Group Newsletter No 11 March 2001 Page 11
Now then, what could be more appropriate than a newspaper issuing forth from a modern
coffee house? Newly in print (the copy to hand is undated but picked up on a recent
expedition to Melbourne) is Australia‟s own Gosh gazette published by Gosh Coffee, 36-48
Ashford Ave, Milperra, 2214. Issue 1 (also called the “launch issue”) is an illustrated 8-pager
with news and information about the Gosh Coffee chain of coffee shops, and on coffee culture
in general. Part humorous, part informative, this first issue includes:
The new Gosh concept (about this chain of coffee shops);
The leader Gosh, Mr Barista … (coffee facts);
A little coffee culture from the old dart (coffee and coffee history chiefly of
English origin);
Recipes;
What constitutes a good cup of coffee;
What are the best coffee beans;
The history of coffee;
Gosh language of coffee (a coffee glossary).
A must for all those newspaper collectors out there. An available free from a shopping mall
near you.
11.24 DEATH AND THE PRINT RUN
On the Saturday five young men from Wagga Wagga died in a level crossing collision with
the Sydney-Melbourne XPT (train). On the Sunday night the editor of the city‟s Daily
Advertiser lifted the Monday print run by 500. By midday Monday all 17,500 copies of the
paper, with three pages on the accident, had sold out. (“United by grief, a town farewells five
of its finest”, Australian, 2 February 01, p.1.)
11.25 SUBURBAN NEWSPAPERS (1): CONDELL PARK CLOSES
Fairfax Community Newspapers is closing its Condell Park printing plant. Head office will
shift to Liverpool. Nine of its 10 suburban newspapers will be printed at Fairfax‟s Chullora
plant and at Fairfax Regional Printers at Beresfield, near Newcastle. The tenth title will be
printed by Torch Publishing at Bankstown. The Condell Park press has also been printing the
Saturday edition of Fairfax‟s Illawarra Mercury, Wollongong, with the “Weekender”
supplement printed separately by Torch Publishing. (PANPA Bulletin, February 01, p.28.)
11.26 SUBURBAN NEWSPAPERS (2): APN SELLS MELBOURNE TITLES
APN News & Media has sold its Melbourne suburban titles the Melbourne Times, City
Weekly, Emerald Hill Times and Bayside Southern Cross to Metropolis Media for an
undisclosed sum. Shane Higgs, a former owner of Melbourne Times, runs Metropolis Media,
which publishes Metropolitan News, another inner-city title. Higgs rescued Metro News last
September when it was incurring losses of $10,000 a week. (PANPA Bulletin, February 01,
p.9.)
11.27 RURAL PRESS SHIFTS HQ
Rural Press Ltd. has shifted its head office operation out of the city and back to the bush
well, from Kensington in inner Sydney back to its rural site at North Richmond. The
executives vacated the North Richmond site in May 1992. The move was made over the
Christmas break. (PANPA Bulletin, February 01, p7.
Australian Newspaper History Group Newsletter No 11 March 2001 Page 12
11.28 PETER ISAACSON BACK IN PRINT
Peter Isaacson, at the age of 80, has returned to newspaper ownership. The man who sold the
Peter Isaacson Publications group to APN News & Media in 1993 has bought back from APN
the This Week group of six titles. Colin Ritchie is a partner in the buy. The titles, distributed to
hotels, feature tourist information on attractions and local happenings. It is planned to expand
the publications into the Adelaide and Perth markets (SMH, 13 February 01, p.27).
11.29 COFFS HARBOUR ADVOCATE CHARGES THREE DAYS A WEEK
The free daily, the Coffs Harbour Advocate, on the New South Wales north coast, began
charging for its Tuesday, Thursday and Friday issue from 30 January. Its Wednesday and
Saturday issues, targeted at a wider region, continue to be issued free..
11.30 ELLA EBERY, ROLE MODEL
Ella Ebery, 85, editor of the North Central News, St Arnaud, Victoria, was featured in a
recent Good Weekend article (see 11.46.9). The article led to several letters from readers.
Here‟s an extract from one from Wynne Higgins, of Mornington, Vic. (10 February, p.9).
‘I first met Ella in 1986 when I was also a journalist reporting local news and writing a column on the
arts for a Mornington Peninsula paper. Since then I‟ve followed her career through her regular
explosions in newspaper letters columns. She‟s certainly an inspiring role model; at 76 I‟ve started to
slow down following heart surgery and a minor but still annoying lymphoma, but if Ella can keep
going (and so effectively!), I‟m determined I will, too.’
11.31 GOODBYE SURRY SCENE; HULLO SURRY
At Surry Hills in inner Sydney, Surry Scene, a monthly community newspaper since 1996,
ceased publication in August 1996 and took on a new life principally through a Web site. In
December 2000 a quarto-sized newssheet, published by the Surry Hills Neighbourhood
Centre and called Surry, replaced it. It claims a distribution of about 6,000 to households,
cafes, shops and businesses in the area bounded by South Dowling, Oxford, Wentworth,
Elizabeth and Cleveland Streets. Bryan Dickeson and Adrian Black handle editorial duties.
[Ken Sanz supplied the ANHG with the final issue of Surry Scene and the first issue of Surry.]
11.32 SUB HUB AT LISMORE
Sub-editor positions at three of the New South Wales north coast region‟s newspapers will be
abolished under an outsourcing plan which the journalists‟ union says threatens to reduce
staff. the Tweed Daily News, Coffs Harbour Advocate and Grafton Daily Examiner plan to
outsource sub-editing work to a “sub-hub” at the Lismore-based Northern Star. The Media,
Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) says the move is expected to cut overall editorial
staff numbers at the three papers by between 20 and 25 per cent. Under the plan, reporters
will be required to write stories to fit pre-assigned spaces and add headlines. Stories will be
assigned to a particular space each morning, before they are written. MEAA has filed notices
of a dispute with the Australian Industrial Relations Commission. (Source: ABC Radio, 16
February 01; see also “What goes around, comes around‟, APN Password, February 01, p.9;
and “Go Live: A new(s) approach by Observer editorial”, APN Password, August 00, p.7.)
11.33 WHAT IS A NEWSPAPER?
Australian Newspaper History Group Newsletter No 11 March 2001 Page 13
One thing overlooked when this Newsletter started was defining “newspapers”. To start a
debate, Victor Isaacs proposes a definition: A newspaper is a periodical, published at least
weekly, containing news of general interest to the community, and printed on newsprint.
11.34 WHAT IS A JOURNALIST?
Rural Press Ltd has advertised for a replacement for the retiring sports editor at its Bathurst
(NSW) daily, the Western Advocate, thus: “While a background in journalism is not essential,
sub-editing and layout skills would be well regarded.” This has upset the Advocate’s
journalists, but management disregarded a request for the advertisement to reflect the
“journalistic responsibilities” of the position (Alliance, February/March 2001, p.4).
Editor‟s note: I recall the Canberra Times and the Toowoomba Chronicle have appointed
sporting editors whose first trade/profession was not journalism. Both had good knowledge of
sports.
11.35 THE DON’S DEATH
The death on 25 February 2001 of Sir Donald Bradman, an Australian sporting icon, led
newspapers around the country to produce tribute editions on 27 February and Time
(Australian edition), 5 March, and the Bulletin, 6 March, to make his life and death their cover
story.
ITEMS RELATED TO NEWSPAPER HISTORY
11.36 HERITAGE GRANTS
The New South Wales Heritage Office has granted: $1,000 to Janet McNaught for „People &
Events on the Richmond, 1889-1905, Volume 3‟, the complete documentation in index form
of history from 1889-1905 as reported by the Northern Star, Lismore. It will be a sequel to
Vols 1 and 2; and $2,000 to Rodney and Wendy Gow for the „Maitland Mercury indexing
program‟, entailing the production of a microfiche index to the Maitland Mercury, 1846.
11.37 PRINTING
From Tom Darragh: I have come across another description with illustrations of a printing
firm, this time in Adelaide. The reference is Frearson’s Weekly (published in Adelaide), 14
August 1880, p. 355, description of an illustration on page 356 entitled Offices of Frearson’s
Weekly and Monthly Illustrated Adelaide News. The illustration has vignettes of each of the
departments of the firm and the description gives some details of each. They claimed a
circulation of 100,000 copies for that year.
11.38 FROM A COMPOSITOR
Tom Darragh again: A letter to the editor appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald on 24
August 1850 signed “A Compositor”; it carried details relating to wages and arrangements for
payment of staff.
11.39 PRINTING ON TAPA CLOTH
Brian Hubber writes: In a recent Kay Craddock Antiquarian Bookseller Catalogue
(November 2000) there was offered a copy of the Fiji Times (8 January 1898) printed on tapa,
an unwoven cloth made from the bark of the paper mulberry tree. My query is, why? There is
no evidence that the printing marks a ceremony, anniversary or event. Could it be that paper
Australian Newspaper History Group Newsletter No 11 March 2001 Page 14
was simply in short supply? While this is a Pacific Island example, there must be plenty of
similar Australian examples, of printings on strange materials such as cotton, silk, satin, etc. I
would like to gather together a file of such occasions, so if your readers know of any they
might like to share their experiences with me. In particular I would like to know: the title of
the publication, the date of issue, the materials on which printed, the reasons for the printing
(if known or can be reasonably guessed at), and the location of the item. I will publish the
results in a future issue of the ANHG Newsletter. (bhubber@slv.vic.gov.au)
Victor Isaacs offers this: Pens and Ems by Alan Finch (Rigby, 1965) records many quirks of
Australian newspaper history, including printing on unusual materials when paper was
unavailable, usually because of floods. In April 1890 the Central Australian and Bourke
Telegraph (Bourke, New South Wales) was forced to print successive issues on silk, satin and
two on calico. Finch says the first issue of the Cooktown Independent, Qld, was published on
white satin with a red border, and in 1886 the Normanton Chronicle, Qld, appeared for one
issue on white satin with a blue edge. In the 1870s the Etheridge Courier, Qld, published on
large calico handkerchiefs. During floods the Braidwood Dispatch, NSW, still appeared
using brown paper, then sugar bags, then calico. Then the problem was solved the calico
was called in after each issue, washed and used for the next issue. [Finch is not strong on
sourcing his statements. Editor.]
11.40 BOOK REVIEW by Victor Isaacs
COUNTRY CONSCIENCE: A HISTORY OF THE NEW SOUTH WALES PROVINCIAL
PRESS 1841-1995 by Rod Kirkpatrick, published by Infinite Harvest Publishing, GPO Box
240, Canberra ACT 2600, ISBN 0-646-402706, 496 pages, 30 x 20 cm, hardback, illustrated,
$55 (inc postage & packing).
At the outset, it should be stated that the editor did not seek a review of his latest book. But it
is of great importance in recording Australian newspaper history, and so should be noted in
this Newsletter. Rod Kirkpatrick has produced what is obviously a labour of love which
demonstrates great breadth of knowledge of Australian newspaper history. Country
Conscience provides an astonishing amount of information, all rigorously backed by an
enormous range of references. Any serious student of the subject will be constantly referring
to this as a mine of information.
The book‟s first chapters take a decade-by-decade view of the development of the New South
Welsh provincial press, most chapters also including a more detailed description of events in
particular towns. Following are thematic chapters, on such topics as economics of the
industry in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, journalism, the press and politics, postal
charges, the Federation debate, parochialism, libel laws, the NSW Country Press Association,
daily publication, editors, dynasties of proprietors, amalgamations, takeovers by companies,
Rural Press Ltd, the Newcastle Herald and Illawarra Mercury, and newspaper production
technology.
There are comprehensive indexes and a bibliography. An especially valuable feature is an
appendix recording, at ten-year intervals, all NSW provincial newspaper titles with their year
of foundation and frequency of publication.
I particularly enjoyed the story of the Grafton Argus proving its rival, the Clarence and
Richmond Examiner, was stealing its news by deliberately printing the wrong placings in a
horse race result; and the recounting of sons establishing newspapers in opposition to their
fathers‟ papers in Tumut and Cootamundra. I also liked the story that in the 1930s the
Newcastle Morning Herald could not break into the Maitland market, partially because
Newcastle was still regarded as “convict” and Maitland as “free”; and how in the 1930s the
Australian Newspaper History Group Newsletter No 11 March 2001 Page 15
Linotype operators at the Newcastle Morning Herald regarded the arrival of the paper‟s first
typewriter with suspicion.
The scope of the book is slightly wider that its title indicates, because there are a number of
comparative glances elsewhere, especially to Victoria and Queensland, but extending to
newspapers on the American western frontier. The author also occasionally takes his
overview beyond 1995 to 2000 and even ventures some predictions of future directions. I note
that Table 2 (p.16) refers to Bendigo and Sandhurst separately but the author assures me two
separate papers were being published.
Country Conscience, which complements books written about the Sydney press (histories of
the Fairfaxes by Gavin Souter and the Packers by Bridget Griffin-Foley), combines a huge
amount of information with a very readable style. It is good value for money and highly
recommended.
11.41 PRESERVING AUSTRALIAN NEWSPAPERS
If you want details on what is being done to preserve Australian newspapers, you‟ll find it on
the Web at http://www.nla.gov.au/preserve/nplan.html
Alan Ventress, Mitchell Librarian at the State Library of New South Wales, says: “At the
SLNSW, Bicentennial funding helped give us a very good start on retrospective newspaper
microfilming in 1988. My first job at the Library, as deputy acquisitions and collection
development librarian, involved oversight of this project. At that time, Janine Schmidt (now
the University Librarian at the University of Queensland) decided that a concerted effort
should be made to microfilm all NSW newspapers held in SLNSW by 2000. The
microfilming of all “back sets” of NSW newspapers will be completed in 2001. It has been a
long and arduous process which will be worth celebrating when we get there soon all the
single issues and very small runs are now being filmed. Among them have been the Pictorial
News, Sutherland, 1980-June 1987 and the Narromine News & Trangie Advocate, January
1898-April 1924.
11.42 THE RAW STORE OF HISTORY
QUOTE: [Nicholas Baker, 44, novelist,] took delivery last year of 7,500 “brick-thick” volumes
of unwanted newspapers, flogged off as surplus to requirements by the British Library. The
consignment which cost $180,000 to buy and ship is now stacked on 90-odd pallets in
Baker‟s American Newspaper Repository, a non-profit organisation he founded in a mad race
against the clock in 1999. He reckons his haul of more than 100 US periodical and newspaper
titles, including runs dating back to the 1860s, features some of the “most important historical
documents that exist”, speaking of them in the same breath as the Magna Carta and the
Declaration of Independence. “These volumes are physical objects that represent history, the
raw store of history that we have the chief, the main, the principal urban record of the late
19
th
and early 20
th
centuries, rare than most of the stuff that libraries keep in their rare book
collections,” says Baker, his words tumbling over themselves. In the age of microfilm and the
Internet, his beloved papers are also … regarded by most librarians as “junk”. UNQUOTE.
Extract from Susannah Herbert, “Hold the front page”, Good Weekend, 20 January 01, pp.33-34.
11.43 NEW YORK TIMES VASTLY EXPANDING ARCHIVES
The New York Times archives will be expanded to include digital images of every page from
1851 to the end of 1998 (about 3,500,000 pages.) This will result from a licensing deal
between Bell & Howell and the New York Times. This conversion will take about 15 months
and the pages will be released in batches that cover a decade each. The archive will be
Australian Newspaper History Group Newsletter No 11 March 2001 Page 16
available only to libraries and schools. The news release about this deal is available at
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/010112/ny_the_new.html .
This announcement comes on the heels of Bell & Howell‟s announcement of the ProQuest
Historical Newspapers project, which will cover the digitisation of many newspapers back to
the 19th century. While the press release doesn‟t name any specific papers, it does mention
“hundreds” of newspapers, starting with US newspapers and then expanding to cover
newspapers all over the world. You can get the press release for this announcement at
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/010112/dc_bell_ho.html
11.44 PRINTING PLANT THAT AMAZED THOMAS EDISON
From Gordon Woolf [worsley@worsleypress.com]: Following is one of the best brief explanations of a
newspaper‟s history I‟ve read. The claim that this paper published the first halftone engraving (even
possibly in the US) could cause some dispute. The information comes from Paul Jagnow, managing
editor, of the Youngstown Vindicator (107 Vindicator Square, Youngstown, Ohio, 44503, USA).
[The Vindicator] was founded in 1869 by a printer-publisher who had been run out of Beaver
Falls, Pa., for printing Democratic dogma. In the postbellum era, the North was solidly
Republican. He presumably called the paper The Vindicator in the belief that his Democratic
views and principles had been vindicated, even though Youngstown was solidly Republican
in those days as well. Perhaps he felt that way because he wasn‟t tarred and feathered or
something. In those days, papers hewed editorially to one party or another Democrat,
Republican, Whig, etc. He was a better politician than businessman, though, and the paper
failed. It devolved on a succession of would-be publishers who couldn‟t make a go of it.
The patriarch of the present family ownership, who published a German-language paper,
bought The Vindicator in 1887 by accident at a sheriff‟s sale. Downtown on business, he
stopped to see what the crowd was all about. For the hell of it he entered a bid. It turned out to
be the only bid. For his trouble and money, he got the name and what was left of the
typecases. The printing plant no longer existed; it had burned. He brought the paper back in
about a year, built a new plant, duked it out with the entrenched Republican daily and
eventually made a success of it, turning it into one of the most modern and innovative papers
in the country. The paper published the first halftone engraving, an invention of its pressroom
foreman, who also built the first automobile in Ohio. Thomas Edison thought the printing
plant was amazing. It was a rough frontier town in those early days. The owner had to go to
work armed with a revolver. The rest of us should have his vision and courage. His son
bought the competing paper from Scripps-Howard in 1936, 13 years after his death.
11.45 RECENTLY PUBLISHED (1): BOOK, MONOGRAPH
11.45.1 COMMUNITY JOURNALISM edited by John Hurst and Michael Provis.
Melbourne: Country Press Australia, 2000 (ISBN 0 9578018 0 7; 264pp). Excellent how-to-
do-it book for country and suburban journalists.
11.45.2 COVERING EVERY DOGFIGHT: A CENTURY AND A HALF OF LOCAL
NEWS IN THE PROVINCIAL PRESS by Rod Kirkpatrick, Australian Journalism
Monographs, 5 & 6, May-November 2000 (ISSN 1440 7922; 68pp). Changing trends in the
coverage of news, especially local, in the provincial press of NSW and Queensland during the
years since the first title was published in 1841. Available from School of Journalism and
Communication, University of Queensland, Brisbane, 4072, for $15 (incl p&p).
11.46 RECENTLY PUBLISHED (2): ARTICLES
Australian Newspaper History Group Newsletter No 11 March 2001 Page 17
11.46.1 RAG TO GLITCHES THE BITTER TRUTH by Andrew Dodd, Australian, Media
liftout, 14 December 00, pp.8-9. A bold plan to relaunch the Truth as a clean racing
newspaper has failed spectacularly.
11.46.2 NOW FOR THE GOOD NEWS by Mark Day, Australian, Media liftout, 14
December 00, p.9. Day reviews the Walkley Awards and suggests they show that the ABC‟s
Media Watch should focus on some of the positives of Australian journalism, not merely the
negatives.
11.46.3 THE EDITOR‟S CALL by Matt Price, Australian, Media liftout, 21 December 00,
pp.4-5. Brian Rogers, the new editor of the West Australian has made some idiosyncratic
decisions, according to Price.
11.46.4 IN WHOSE OPINION? by Margaret Simons, Australian, Media liftout, 28 December
00, pp.2-3. The invisible men who write the editorials in Australian newspapers [see 11.3].
11.46.5 MAG WHEELS 7 DEALS by Natasha Bita, Australian, Media liftout, 4 January 01,
pp.2-3. Circulation wars are causing casualties in the volatile magazine market.
11.46.6 TEST OF A CHAMPION by Mark Day, Australian, Media liftout, 4 January 01, p.4.
Day‟s column focuses on the activities of the editor of the Moree Champion, John Ball, who
has been kicking up dust in a country town where 25 per cent of the population is indigenous.
[Ball advertised on 1 February for a journalist who was a “good, fast, accurate sub”, as well as
a feature writer, for a hard-hitting, old established and independent bi-weekly.]
11.46.7 BALANCING ACT by Patricia Karvelas, Australian, Media liftout, 4 January 01,
p.6. Online activists at Australian independent media centers have “a better world in mind”.
They don‟t hate the mainstream; they simply want to be the media.
11.46.8 ALL THE NEWS THAT‟S FIT TO SAVE by Jesse Oxfeld, Australian, Media liftout,
4 January 01, p.7. An interview with the rescuer of the last great archive of 20
th
century
American newspapers. [See also HOLD THE FRONT PAGE by Susannah Herbert, Good
Weekend, 20 January 01, pp.33-34, and 11.25 above for extract.]
11.46.9 FAIRFAX FOXTROT by Mark Day, Australian, Media liftout, 11 January 01, p.4.
Background to the changes in publisher at John Fairfax in Sydney and Melbourne [see 11.2].
11.46.10 LATE EDITION by Jane Cadzow, Good Weekend, 13 January 01, pp.22-25. Profile
of 85-year-old Ella Ebery, editor of the North Central News, Victoria, for the past 21 years.
11.46.11 THE MERCURY‟S BLUNT INSTRUMENT by Neryl East, Australian, Media
liftout, 11 January 01, p.7. Former Illawarra Mercury editor Peter Cullen, who died in
December, was an old-style crusader who sometimes got it wrong [see 11.7].
11.46.12 PRESS RETHINKS INTERNET APPROACH by Felicity Barringer, Age, 23
January 01. The first era of newspaper experiments on the Internet, fuelled in part by the fear
that the Web would devour profits, is over, writes Barringer in article that first appeared in the
New York Times.
11.46.13 LESSONS IN FLEET STREET by John Coleman, Northern Daily Leader,
Tamworth, 6 January 01, p.17. An Australian journalist reflects on his days working for the
Sunday Express when the Fleet Street press barons still ruled the British press.
11.46.14 PROTECTING BULGER‟S KILLERS FROM CERTAIN DEATH by Elizabeth
Butler-Sloss, Sydney Morning Herald, 10 January 01, p.10. The lives of the boys who
Australian Newspaper History Group Newsletter No 11 March 2001 Page 18
murdered a toddler are more important than the public‟s right to know their new identities, a
judge rules. An edited version of the judgment by Justice Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss in
Britain on the application from Venables and Thompson for continued anonymity.
11.46.15 A MATTER OF ORGANISATION by Beate Josephi, Australian Studies in
Journalism, 9, 2000, pp.106-125. The importance of the organisational sphere for media
content is becoming increasingly recognised. This article explores its past and present with
regard to print journalism, with a special focus on the West Australian.
11.46.16 CHRONIC CIRCULATION DECLINE; REGIONAL DAILIES SUCCUMB TO
METROPOLITAN VIRUS by Rod Kirkpatrick, Australian Studies in Journalism, 9, 2000,
pp.75-105. The author analyses statistics to find that the regionals have joined the metros in
the general downward circulation slump despite attempting various strategies.
11.46.17 RUNNING HOT … AND COLD by Colin Gibson, Australian, Media liftout 1
February 01, pp.8-9. An award-winning journalist reflects on the state of Australian sports
writing before returning to London.
11.46.18 OLD AGE FALTERS IN NEW WORLD and BLUEPRINT FOR A NEW AGE by
Mark Day, Australian, Media liftout, 8 February 01, pp.6-8, and 15 February 01, p.3. Two
special reports examining the impact of changes during the past decade at The Age,
Melbourne.
11.46.19 FAIRFAX LEARNS ITALIAN by James Panichi, Australian, Media liftout, 8
February 01, p.11. The Sydney Morning Herald is taking sides in Italy‟s fiercest postwar
circulation battle.
11.46.20 CHRISTIAN VALUES by Natalie O‟Brien, Australian, Media liftout, 8 February
01, p.13. Unorthodox Perth suburban newspaper proprietor Bret Christian anything but your
average media mogul. He started the Post at Subiaco in 1977 and maintains high journalistic
standards. The paper now appears in four editions across Perth‟s so-called “golden triangle”.
(See also “Paper resists big buyers”, Times on Sunday, 15 February 1987.)
11.46.21 WALKLEY AWARD WINNERS 2000 for a complete list of winners, visit the
following Website: http://www.walkleywards.aust.com/2000/index.htm
11.46.22 HISTORY UNRAVELS MILLENNIUM DEBATE by Rod Kirkpatrick, PANPA
Bulletin, February 01, pp.25-27. The author deals with how newspapers reported the
millennium and, more than 100 years ago, how provincial papers reported the federation
debates.
11.46 23 EYE ON THE PRIZE by Mark Westfield, Australian, Media liftout, 15 February 01,
pp.6-7. John Hartigan, News Ltd‟s new chief, brings a fighting sprit to the job he‟s taken up
boxing, works out five days a week and runs five mornings a week.
11.46.24 UP CLOSE AND PROFITABLE by Bruce Montgomery, Australian, Media liftout,
15 February 01, pp.14-15. Discusses the ethos that governs the news values of country papers,
with a special focus on Shepparton‟s News.
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Australian Newspaper History Group Newsletter No 11 March 2001 Page 19
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11.47 Select chronology of Australian newspaper events,
1980-2000
16 April 1980
Young Guardian (NSW) begins publication.
6 June 1980
Newcastle Clarion begins; issued during national journalists‟
strike.
4 July 1980
Final issue of afternoon daily, Newcastle Sun (established 11
October 1916 as Northern Times; became Newcastle Sun 23
March 1918).
7 July 1980
First issue of Sunshine Coast Daily, Maroochydore, Qld.
November 1980
Western Mail, Perth, begins publication.
1 January 1981
Times Regional Newspaper, Deniliquin, NSW, begins.
24 February 1981
Tamworth Times begins publication; weekly.
September 1981
Newcastle Post launched after the Newcastle Herald acquired a
49pc interest in the Lake Macquarie Post, a free weekly.
6 October 1980
The 104-year-old title, the Newcastle Morning Herald and
Miners’ Advocate, is shortened to The Newcastle Herald
January 1982
The Maryborough Chronicle, Maryborough, becomes the
Maryborough-Hervey Bay Chronicle.
2 August 1982
First issue of B Rupert Murdoch begins publishing a new morning daily in Brisbane,
the Daily Sun.
27 January 1984
News Ltd. takes over the North Queensland Newspaper Co. Ltd
(flagship: Townsville Bulletin).
9 May 1984
First issue of The Northern Leader, Bowen. Tri-weekly. Founder:
Asher Joel Media group.
24 September 1984
Daily Liberal, Dubbo, shifts from evening to morning publication.
31 May 1985
Final issue of Northern Leader, Bowen. Survived a week less than
13 months.
1 January 1986
News Ltd., via North Queensland Newspaper Co., takes over Bowen
Independent from Darwen family.
30 September 1986
Lithgow Mercury ceases daily issue and becomes a tri-weekly
from the following week (Lithgow Mercury, 30/9/1986, p.1).
3 December 1986
Rupert Murdoch launches takeover bid for the Herald & Weekly
Times Ltd.
20 December 1986
The Herald, Melbourne, publishes its final Saturday issue (it was
Australia‟s last Saturday evening paper).
14 January 1987
Sir Warwick Fairfax dies.
6 February 1987
Rupert Murdoch wins the battle to take over the Herald & Weekly
Times Ltd.
6 July 1987
Business Daily launched.
7 August 1987
Northern Star Holdings says it will sell the titles of the Brisbane
Daily Sun and Sunday Sun and the Adelaide News to the
managements in each city, who will buy with help from Westfield,
Northern Star‟s parent; News Corporation will still print and
distribute its „competitor‟.
18 August 1987
Business Daily closes.
31 August 1987
Warwick Fairfax, 26-year-old son of Sir Warwick and Lady Mary,
launches takeover bid for Fairfax media empire.
12 October 1987
Goulburn Evening Post shifts from evening to morning
publication and drops Evening from title.
1 November 1987
APN buys Chinchilla News, Qld, from David and Dorothy Fuller.
7 December 1987
Warwick Fairfax jun. formally takes over as proprietor of Fairfax.
Australian Newspaper History Group Newsletter No 11 March 2001 Page 21
Chairman James Fairfax, deputy chairman John B. Fairfax and rest of
board resign.
2 January 1988
Final issue of Perth‟s Western Mail. Losses over seven years estimated
at $50 million.
5 February 1988
Final issue of the Brisbane Telegraph (established 1872).
15 February 1988
Brisbane Daily Sun shifts to afternoon slot vacated by Telegraph on 5
February.
13 March 1988
Final issue of the Times on Sunday (formerly the National Times,
established 7 February 1971).
14 March 1988
Final issue of Sydney‟s Sun (established 1910).
26 July 1988
O‟Reilly family trust takes over Provincial Newspapers (Qld) Ltd
(PNQ).
13 August 1988
Haswell Pty Ltd‟s takeover offer for PNQ expires.
8 September 1988
Mornington Mail, Vic., established.
2 November 1988
PNQ becomes APN (Australian Provincial Newspapers Ltd).
3 March 1989
Haswell sacks senior PNQ staff from pre-takeover days; the Irish are
firmly in control of APN.
5 June 1989
Maitland Mercury, NSW, shifts from afternoon to morning daily
publication.
13 August 1989
Final edition of Melbourne Sunday Press (joint publication of Herald &
Weekly Times and David Syme & Co).
20 August 1989
First editions of Melbourne Sunday Herald, Sunday Sun News-Pictorial
and Sunday Age.
6 August 1990
The Shepparton News switches to morning issue after publishing as an
afternoon daily since 3 July 1972. This was the last of Australia‟s
provincial afternoon dailies.
11 September 1990
Final issue of the Perth Daily News (established 1882).
5 October 1990
Final editions of the Sydney Daily Telegraph (established 1879), Sydney
Daily Mirror (1941), Melbourne Sun News-Pictorial (1922) and
Melbourne Herald (1840).
8 October 1990
Birth of “24-hour” newspapers to replace the above: Sydney Daily
Telegraph-Mirror and Melbourne Herald-Sun.
1991
Protracted battle throughout the year for the John Fairfax newspaper
empire, which was in receivership.
31 March 1991
Closure of the Melbourne Sunday Herald (established 20 August 1989).
10 December 1991
Closure of the Brisbane Sun (afternooner since February 1988, morning
1982-1988).
15 December 1991
Conrad Black‟s Tourang wins control of Fairfax empire.
25 March 1992
Release of News & Fair Facts, report of the House of Representatives
Select Committee on the Print Media.
27 March 1992
Closure of The News, Adelaide (established 1923) last afternoon
newspaper in Australia.
29 March 1992
Brisbane Sunday Mail goes tabloid.
14 April 1992
Closure of Brisbane Sunday Sun announced. Sunday Telegraph and
Sun-Herald commence publishing south-east Queensland editions.
9 October 1993
First edition of Brisbane Weekend Times (80c). Proprietor Michael
Hawke sold the (free) City News to Rupert Murdoch reportedly for $1.5
million.
20 November 1993
Closure of Brisbane Weekend Times.
22 December 1993
APN takes over Peter Isaacson Publications, Melbourne, publisher of
more than 40 titles including the Daily Commercial News.
8 May 1994
Final south-east Queensland edition of Sunday Telegraph.
July 1995
Closure of Sydney News and Gold Coast News, both weekly lifestyle and
Australian Newspaper History Group Newsletter No 11 March 2001 Page 22
real-estate colour magazines.
15 May 1994
Final south-east Queensland edition of Sun-Herald.
11 December 1995
Rural Press pays $68.9 million to acquire the Bathurst Western
Advocate, Orange Central Western Daily, Dubbo Liberal, Goulburn Post
and other Macquarie Publications newspaper properties.
2 January 1996
Sydney Daily Telegraph-Mirror reverts to title of Daily Telegraph.
4 November 1996
Goulburn Post, a daily since 1927, reverts to tri-weekly issue.
14 March 1997
First issue of new national weekly, the Republican.
29 June 1997
Sunday Canberra Times renamed Sunday Times.
16 August 1997
First issue of the Good Weekend (Saturday Sydney Morning Herald and
Age insert) in enlarged format.
29 August 1997
Final issue of the Republican.
6 September 1997
Australian Financial Review inaugurates Saturday edition.
14 September 1997
Introduction of Sunday magazine into Sunday Telegraph and Sunday
Herald-Sun and Sunday Life! Magazine into Sun-Herald and Sunday
Age.
27 October 1997
Townsville Bulletin new printing plant inaugurated and changes from
broadsheet to tabloid.
3 November 1997
Adelaide Advertiser changes from broadsheet to tabloid.
9 March 1998
Redesign of Melbourne Age.
27 April 1998
Redesign of Australian; price reduction in Victoria to 40c and price
increase elsewhere by 10c to $1; introduction of page of local news in
Melbourne edition.
29 June 1998
Bendigo Advertiser changes from broadsheet to tabloid.
27 July 1998
Newcastle Herald changes from broadsheet to tabloid. (The only
remaining Australian broadsheet dailies/Sundays now are the Australian,
Sydney Morning Herald, Age/Sunday Age, Courier-Mail, Canberra
Times/Canberra Sunday Times, Geelong Advertiser and Mildura
Sunraysia Daily.)
2 September 1998
Barossa & Light Herald, Tanunda, South Australia, becomes a free
paper.
23 September 1998
Rural Press acquires Canberra Times from Kerry Stokes for $160
million.
1 November 1998
Newcastle Herald’s new printing plant at Beresfield is inaugurated.
25 March 1999
Inaugural weekly “Media” liftout section appears in the Australian
21 June 1999
Border Mail, formerly based at Albury, NSW, opens for business at
Wodonga, Vic., operating from new printing, editorial and business
premises.
28 June 1999
Fairfax announces $220 million new printing plant for Age and
Financial Review to be built at Tullamarine, northwest Melbourne to
come on line in 2001.
30 June 1999
The 111-year Johnston dynasty ends at the Riverine Grazier, Hay, NSW,
with the sale by the widowed Isabel Johnston before her second
marriage.
July 1999
News Ltd‟s new Perth printing plant inaugurated, completing
replacement of News‟ printing plants in all State capitals; inauguration
of full colour of Perth Sunday Times (25 July); inauguration of full
colour of Perth edition of the Australian (completing colour printing in
all editions) and page of local news in Perth edition.
5 August 1999
Printing of Wollongong Illawarra Mercury transferred to Fairfax plant at
Chullora, Sydney.
6 August 1999
APN News & Media Ltd acquires Gympie Times from Rural Press Ltd.
11 September 1999
Redesign of Sunday Age and national edition inaugurated, printed at
Australian Newspaper History Group Newsletter No 11 March 2001 Page 23
Fairfax plant at Chullora, Sydney.
1 November 1999
Commencement of separate rural and national editions of the Age, with
marketing of the national edition in Adelaide (sale at Victorian price of
$1, and home delivery).
4 December 1999
Death: John Douglas Pringle, editor of the Sydney Morning Herald
1953-57 and1965-70 and Canberra Times 1964-65.
8 December 1999
David Syme & Co announce company name change to The Age Co.
12 December 1999
The longest-serving editor of an Australian metropolitan daily, Paul
Murray of the West Australian, announces his resignation after ten years.
16 January 2000
Death: Adrian Deamer, Editor of the Australian 1966-1971.
24 January 2000
Sydney Daily Telegraph introduces layout changes.
31 January 2000
Perth West Australian placed on internet (www.thewest.com.au), the last
major metropolitan paper to do so.
22 February 2000
Formal commencement of work on Fairfax‟s new printing plant in
Melbourne.
24 March 2000
Fairfax announces $70 million expansion for its Chullora printing plant
in Sydney‟s south-west.
4 April 2000
Wilkie Watson family completes 100 years as owners of the Tumut &
Adelong Times, New South Wales.
7 April 2000
Brian Rogers, news director of Channel Nine, Perth, is appointed editor
of the West Australian, replacing Paul Murray who joined Radio 6PR in
March.
17 April 2000
Australian announces Rupert Murdoch has prostate cancer.
20 April 2000
The Eye ceases publication (Vol 2, No. 7). It had appeared fortnightly
since October 1999.
26 April 2000
Death: Ronald Raymond Boland, editor and managing director, Sunday
Times, Perth, 1956-60; managing editor, The News, Adelaide, 1960-77;
age 88.
7 May 2000
The Canberra Times’s Sunday edition, the Sunday Times, becomes the
Canberra (small print) Sunday Times (big print) and converts from
broadsheet to tabloid.
7 June 2000
Eightieth birthday edition of the Bankstown-Canterbury Torch.
30 June 2000
Cameron O‟Reilly quits as chief executive of APN News & Media Ltd
to pursue private investment interests in Europe.
1 July 2000
GST (Goods and Services Tax) implemented throughout Australia,
lifting prices of newspapers.
1 July 2000
Redesign of Saturday edition of Brisbane‟s Courier-Mail. Now delivered
in two parts, the second being labelled “BAM” (Books, Arts, Music).
2 July 2000
First issue of the Southeast Asian Times, a broadsheet, in Darwin.
7 July 2000
Twentieth anniversary of the establishment of the Sunshine Coast Daily,
Maroochydore, Qld. Special supplement issued.
10 August 2000
Death: Sir Theodor Bray, editor of Brisbane‟s Courier-Mail for 26
years; Chancellor of Griffith University, 1975-85; aged 95.
24 October 2000
Robert Whitehead is named as the new editor of the Sydney Morning
Herald, replacing Paul McGeough.
3 November 2000
Death: David Ramsay McNicoll, editor-in-chief of Australian
Consolidated Press (including the Daily Telegraph), 1953-72; aged 85.
27 November 2000
Truth, Melbourne, placed in receivership.
10 December 2000
Sydney Sun-Herald introduces a subscribers-only magazine.
Christmas 2000
Rural Press Ltd. shifts its executives out of Kensington, in inner-Sydney,
and back to North Richmond, NSW.
