The Courier-Mail: Difference between revisions
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==History== |
==History== |
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| ⚫ | The first edition of ''The Courier-Mail'' was published on [[28 August]] [[1933]] after a merger of ''The Brisbane Courier'' (founded as ''The Moreton Bay Courier'' on [[20 June]] [[1846]]) and ''The Daily Mail'' (first published on [[3 October]] [[1903]]). This merger was necessitated by the [[Great Depression]] which had caused both papers to make financial losses. |
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The ''Moreton Bay Courier'' was established in 1846 by [[Sidney Lyons]], but was taken over about 18 months later by [[James Swan (mayor of Brisbane)|James Swan]], who then sold it to [[Thomas Blacket Stephens]] in 1859<ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3526787 Brisbane Courier, Tuesday 2 June 1891, page 5[</ref>. |
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''The Moreton Bay Courier'' was purchased by [[Thomas Blacket Stephens]] in May 1861, and he soon turned it into a daily newspaper, the ''Courier''. In 1864 it became the ''Brisbane Courier''. In June-July 1868, he floated the Brisbane Newspaper Company, and transferred the plant and copyright of the ''Brisbane Courier'' to it.<ref>{{cite newspaper | url = http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1324820 | title = Notice | author = T. B. Stephens | publisher = The Brisbane Courier | date = July 2, 1868 }}</ref> He was the managing director until he retired in November 1873, when the paper was auctioned.<ref>[http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A060212b.htm Stephens, Thomas Blacket (1819 - 1877)], [[Australian Dictionary of Biography]]</ref><ref>{{cite book | title = AussieData: From Prehistory to the Present | author = Judith Womersley, Mark Richmond | page = 160 | publisher = Wakefield Press | year = 2001 | isbn = 1862545456 }}</ref> |
''The Moreton Bay Courier'' was purchased by [[Thomas Blacket Stephens]] in May 1861, and he soon turned it into a daily newspaper, the ''Courier''. In 1864 it became the ''Brisbane Courier''. In June-July 1868, he floated the Brisbane Newspaper Company, and transferred the plant and copyright of the ''Brisbane Courier'' to it.<ref>{{cite newspaper | url = http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1324820 | title = Notice | author = T. B. Stephens | publisher = The Brisbane Courier | date = July 2, 1868 }}</ref> He was the managing director until he retired in November 1873, when the paper was auctioned.<ref>[http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A060212b.htm Stephens, Thomas Blacket (1819 - 1877)], [[Australian Dictionary of Biography]]</ref><ref>{{cite book | title = AussieData: From Prehistory to the Present | author = Judith Womersley, Mark Richmond | page = 160 | publisher = Wakefield Press | year = 2001 | isbn = 1862545456 }}</ref> |
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| ⚫ | The first edition of ''The Courier-Mail'' was published on [[28 August]] [[1933]] after a merger of ''The Brisbane Courier'' (founded as ''The Moreton Bay Courier'' on [[20 June]] [[1846]]) and ''The Daily Mail'' (first published on [[3 October]] [[1903]]). This merger was necessitated by the [[Great Depression]] which had caused both papers to make financial losses. |
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==Political position== |
==Political position== |
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Revision as of 09:23, 4 May 2009
 Front page of The Courier-Mail 25 July 2008 | |
| Type | Daily newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Tabloid |
| Owner(s) | News Corporation |
| Publisher | Queensland Newspapers |
| Editor | David Fagan |
| Founded | 1933 |
| Language | English |
| Headquarters |  Brisbane, Australia41 Campbell St Bowen Hills QLD 4006 |
| Circulation | 224,689 Monday-Friday 326,767 Saturday |
| Website | news.com.au/couriermail |
The Courier-Mail is a daily newspaper published in Brisbane, Australia. Owned by News Corporation, it is published daily from Monday to Saturday in tabloid format. Its editorial offices are located at Bowen Hills, in Brisbane's inner northern suburbs, and it is printed at Murarrie, in Brisbane's eastern suburbs.
History
The Moreton Bay Courier was established in 1846 by Sidney Lyons, but was taken over about 18 months later by James Swan, who then sold it to Thomas Blacket Stephens in 1859[1].
The Moreton Bay Courier was purchased by Thomas Blacket Stephens in May 1861, and he soon turned it into a daily newspaper, the Courier. In 1864 it became the Brisbane Courier. In June-July 1868, he floated the Brisbane Newspaper Company, and transferred the plant and copyright of the Brisbane Courier to it.[2] He was the managing director until he retired in November 1873, when the paper was auctioned.[3][4]
The first edition of The Courier-Mail was published on 28 August 1933 after a merger of The Brisbane Courier (founded as The Moreton Bay Courier on 20 June 1846) and The Daily Mail (first published on 3 October 1903). This merger was necessitated by the Great Depression which had caused both papers to make financial losses.
Political position
Like most newspapers owned by News Corporation, The Courier-Mail generally supports free market economic policies and the process of globalisation. It supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Circulation
The Courier-Mail has the fourth-highest circulation of any daily newspaper in Australia with 224,689 sales Monday to Friday, and 326,767 on Saturdays (June 2006 figures). Around three-quarters of the paper's readership is located in the Brisbane metropolitan area.[5]
Although often claimed to be Brisbane's only daily newspaper since the demise of the afternoon newspaper The Telegraph in 1988, it arguably has had two competitors since 2007. News Corporation itself has published mX, a free afternoon newspaper, since 2007, but mX has a relatively low news content. However, Fairfax Media has published the online Brisbane Times since 2007, which has comparable news content to the Courier-Mail but not in a print format.
Editors
- 1890s Frederick William Ward
- 2008 David Fagan
Journalists
Prominent journalists and columnists include Terry Sweetman and Mike O'Connor. Its current Editor is David Fagan, who is married to columnist and 612 ABC Brisbane radio broadcaster Madonna King. Deputy editor is Steve Gibbons, former editor-in-chief of the Australian Provincial Newspapers group and a senior editor at The Age and Sunday Age in Melbourne. Its editorial cartoonist is Sean Leahy.
Change to tabloid
From its inception until recently The Courier-Mail was a broadsheet newspaper. On 14 December 2005 it was announced that the paper would change to a tabloid sometime in early 2006, however the term "tabloid" was not used in favour of the term "compact"[6]. This linguistic choice was probably related to widespread public view that many tabloids (including those published by News Limited were low quality publications (see tabloid for discussion of this size and quality issue). Much emphasis was made that it was merely the paper size that was changing and not the journalistic quality. The last broadsheet edition was published on Saturday 11 March 2006, and the first tabloid edition was published on Monday 13 March 2006. On the same day, the paper's website was revamped and expanded.
The change to a "compact" format brought The Courier-Mail in line with all other News Limited Australian metropolitan daily newspapers. This followed the change to a tabloid format by The Advertiser of Adelaide - another News Corporation newspaper - some years earlier. Despite the claims that there would be no loss of journalistic quality, the Courier-Mail in its "compact" format is not well-regarded for its journalism, e.g. Crikey described it as "one of the contestants in a close run field for worst paper in Australia"[7].
References
- ^ [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3526787 Brisbane Courier, Tuesday 2 June 1891, page 5[
- ^ T. B. Stephens (July 2, 1868). "Notice". The Brisbane Courier.
- ^ Stephens, Thomas Blacket (1819 - 1877), Australian Dictionary of Biography
- ^ Judith Womersley, Mark Richmond (2001). AussieData: From Prehistory to the Present. Wakefield Press. p. 160. ISBN 1862545456.
- ^ "The Courier-Mail Demographics". Retrieved 2007-02-09.
- ^ Blog of Andrew Bartlett
- ^ Crikey Bias-o-meter: The Newspapers
See also
External links
- Digitised historic Courier-Mail from the National Library of Australia
- Digitised Brisbane Courier from the National Library of Australia
- Digitised Courier from the National Library of Australia
- Digitised Moreton Bay Courier from the National Library of Australia
- The Courier-Mail online
