Newcastle Herald
 | |
| Type | Dailynewspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Tabloid |
| Owner(s) | Australian Community Media |
| Editor | Lisa Allan |
| Founded | 1858 |
| Headquarters | Newcastle |
| Website | www |
TheNewcastle Herald(formerly branded asThe Herald) is a local tabloid newspaper published daily, Monday to Saturday, inNewcastle, New South Wales,Australia.It is the only local newspaper that serves the greaterHunter RegionandCentral Coastregion six days a week. It is owned byAustralian Community Media.
Overview[edit]
TheNewcastle Heraldis the Hunter's largest local media organisation, and enjoys a long affinity and reader involvement with the region's residents. It is also well read inSydney(with readership figures showing a 20% increase in Sydney readership on Saturdays) and interstate, and is usually seen as an accurate record of business and local data for those looking to relocate to the region.
The paper features the only classifieds section published six days a week across the region.
TheNewcastle Heraldemploys more than 310 full-time staff, and injects $17 million into the local economy each year.
History[edit]
TheNewcastle Heraldhad its origins in two early newspapers,The Newcastle Chronicle and Hunter River District NewsandThe Miners Advocate and Northumberland Recorder.
Established in 1858, theChroniclebegan as a weekly journal carrying mining, shipping, court and some small items of local news. It cost just sixpence. In the years that followed it took on more of the appearance of a newspaper, became a bi-weekly and then tri-weekly, and by 1876 its last edition was priced at two pence.
Some of the paper's first articles document theNewcastle Earthquake of 1868,riots, severe storms and thesinking ofCawarra,the worst shipwreck in Newcastle's history that claimed the lives of sixty passengers on the Brisbane-bound passenger ship. It was also during the paper's infant years that the Newcastle rail line was extended to Watt Street (1858), Newcastle became a municipality (1859), the Miners' Federation was formed (1860) and gas lighting was introduced to the city (1875).
In 1873 in Nelson St, Plattsburg (now part ofWallsend), The Miners Advocate and Northumberland Recorder was first published. Under the guidance of founderJohn Miller Sweet,the paper flourished and by 1876 it was a tri-weekly selling for three pence and with a circulation of 4,000 copies a week.
John Sweet's father-in-law,James Fletcher,believed the region was ready for a bigger newspaper published daily and persuaded his son-in-law to expand. TheAdvocatemoved to Bolton Street, Newcastle, and on 3 April 1876, the first copies ofThe Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners Advocatewere published. The firstHerald and Advocatemasthead was ornate and carried a sketch of acollierypit-top,includingpoppet headandchimney.Such ornate mastheads stayed withThe Heraldfor 104 years, the last major change being on 6 October 1980, when a more modern and simpler masthead was introduced, dropping the "Morning" and "Miners Advocate" from the title.
As with theChroniclethe first years ofThe Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners Advocatewere to be also marred by tragedy. Some of the first stories printed by the newly named paper included the sinking ofYarra Yarraoff Newcastle with no survivors, a fire in Scott Street, deaths at the Greta coal mine, coal strikes and the beginning of theBoer War.Among other stories of local importance were the sinking of the Newcastle-Stockton ferryBluebell(TheBluebellCollision) in 1934, The Newcastle Tragedy of 1927 and the Japanese attack on the city's East End and dockyards in 1942.
Move to tabloid[edit]
In July 1998, the newspaper rebranded itself as "the compact with impact" after going tabloid in size. According to the newspaper's proponents the move to tabloid was an immediate success, and the newspaper's circulation has grown more than 21 per cent since then. Others have argued that the paper's journalism values suffered and that the paper had become more sensationalist and less analytical as a result.[1]As theNewcastle Heraldwas one of the first Australian newspapers to switch from broadsheet to tabloid, the paper is often cited as an example when other Australian newspapers are contemplating or alleged to be contemplating a similar move.
Merger[edit]
In mid-2008, the paper was forced to sell its free weekly Post publication toNewcastle Jets FCowner Con Constantine following the merger betweenFairfax MediaandRural Press.Rural Press owned the competingStarnewspaper and theAustralian Competition & Consumer Commissionruled that the conglomerate was not allowed to own two such similar publications. TheStarceased publication in April 2020 due to a drop in advertising revenue as a result of theCOVID-19 pandemic.[2]
Awards[edit]
TwoHeraldwriters have won theGold Walkley,the most prestigious of theWalkley Awardsfor Australian journalism.John Lewiswon in 1981 for his articles on the attempted takeover ofNBN Television,[3]whileJoanne McCarthywon in 2013 for her work on child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.[4]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^"Australia gets another Tabloid".Australian Broadcasting Corporation.30 July 1998. Archived fromthe originalon 11 March 2007.Retrieved28 October2007.(transcript of radio broadcast)
- ^"UPDATED: Hunter newspapers shuttered due to coronavirus downturn".Newcastle Herald.Australian Community Media. 15 April 2020.Retrieved24 September2022.
- ^(10 October 1981)Journalism award to two staff members,The Canberra Times.Retrieved 8 April 2019.
- ^"Walkley Awards: Joanne McCarthy wins gold, Caroline Jones among ABC journalists honoured".ABC News. 29 November 2013.Retrieved14 October2020.