Type | Bi-weekly newspaper (1947–2020) Online newspaper (2020–present) |
---|---|
Format | Tabloid |
Owner(s) | News Corp Australia |
Founded | 24 May 1947 |
Ceased publication | 26 June 2020 (print edition) |
Headquarters | Gap Road Alice Springs, Northern Territory |
Sister newspapers | Northern Territory News |
ISSN | 1447-1647 |
OCLC number | 1131035634 |
Website | www.alicenow.com.au |
The Centralian Advocate was an Australian regional online newspaper based at Alice Springs, Northern Territory. The Centralian Advocate is part of News Corp Australia, and serves under the Northern Territory News banner, containing headlines from the newspaper, as well as stories that cover various events and issues primarily outside of Darwin, particularly central Australia. Until 2020, it was published as a standalone bi-weekly print newspaper on Tuesdays and Fridays, claiming a readership of 15,000 people and with an audited circulation of 4401 as of 2018. [1]
In 2020, News Corp Australia announced that the Advocate would transition to a digital-only format from 29 June, along with numerous other regional newspapers. The last print issue was published on 26 June 2020. [2] [3]
The Centralian Advocate was first published on 24 May 1947. [4] The newspaper was founded by Charles Henry "Pop" Chapman who had made his fortune gold mining in the Tanami Desert. The first edition contained a mix of news and opinion from Alice Springs and around the world. Mention was made of a predecessor, The Dead Heart, which was described as a "news sheet" that published 30 editions in seven months. [5]
Walter Allan was the inaugural editor. Alan Wauchope was editor and part-owner in January 1950 when the Centralian Advocate building on Railway Terrace was destroyed by fire, causing damage estimated at £15,000 and prompting the newspaper to criticise the lack of a fire brigade at that time in Alice Springs.
"I'm writing this story on borrowed paper on a borrowed typewriter, and that opening sentence seems to me to be the height of irony. As the authorities of the Northern Territory Administration know only too well Centralian Advocate has been campaigning ceaselessly for the installation of a fire brigade in the town, but we didn't bargain upon being a burnt offering on the altar of the NT Administration's apathy."
— Alan Wauchope, Centralian Advocate, 20 January 1950
Reg Harris recalls that during his time as the editor Wauchope "very seldom had to leave the office as he had dozens of unpaid amateur reporters who would bring him stories with no more reward then the sighting of their article in print". [6]
War hero James "Jim" Bowditch wrote for the newspaper from 1950 to 1954 and later become editor of the NT News . Bowditch used the newspaper to campaign for the right of Aboriginal people with white heritage to receive full citizenship. [7] Bowditch was active in community affairs through his interests in politics, theatre and cricket. [8] Chapman sold the business in April 1949 to Wauchope, Ron Morcom and Mrs J. H. McArthur. [9] There were several other owners before News Corp bought the Centralian Advocate in 1966.
In the 1970s the newspaper was criticised for the lack of positive stories about Aboriginal people and related coverage and for a lack of Aboriginal employment. This was cited as the reason for the establishment of the Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association in 1980. Related to this, in 1983, the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory ordered the destruction of an edition of the newspaper because it "breached traditional Aboriginal cultural protocols by printing photographs of a camp where someone had dies during protests against the construction of a dam on a local Arrernte women's sacred site". [10]
This article may need to be rewritten to comply with Wikipedia's quality standards, as Significant stories.(February 2021) |
There have been significant local news stories of national interest that have been written by the newspaper. These included the life of Albert Namatjira, the Sundown murders (1958), protests against the establishment of Pine Gap, the hijacking of the Alice Springs bound Ansett Airlines Flight 232 (1972), the Azaria Chamberlain disappearance (1980), the murder of Peter Falconio (2001) [10] and the closure of the Uluru climb (2019). [11]
Until recently[ when? ] the Centralian Advocate currently employed approximately nine journalists, two photographers, five advertising representatives and two administration workers. It is one of the few non-daily newspapers in Australia to have on-site sub-editors and photographers following widespread cuts at rival publisher Fairfax. [12]
The Centralian Advocate has at various times been printed in Darwin and Alice Springs. Printing ceased at Alice Springs in 2013. The Goss Community press was dismantled and sold in 2014, and it is now printed in Darwin on a KBA Comet web press in full colour. [13] It is transported 1500 km by truck to Alice Springs, which is believed to be one of the longest newspaper delivery runs in the world.[ citation needed ]
The newspaper claims a readership of 15,000 people and has an audited circulation of 4401. [1] In addition to Alice Springs, the Centralian Advocate is available for purchase at Tennant Creek, Darwin and Ayers Rock. The cover price is $1.30 on Tuesday and $1.60 on Friday.[ citation needed ]
The last print copy of the Centralian Advocate was published on 26 June 2020 after more than 70 years in circulation as a cost-saving measure by their parent company News Corp. [14] This was done alongside upwards of 100 local and regional newspapers that became digital only or disappeared entirely. The final print issue contained a 16-page commemorative lift-out [3] [15]
The editor-in-charge in 2020, Anthony Geppa said: [14]
I really do feel it's going to have quite a big impact for our older readers who [have] a routine now to sit down every Tuesday and Friday with a physical copy of the paper I also feel really sorry for all the kids that are going to grow up in Alice Springs now who don't have a chance to see their photo in the paper.
— Anthony Geppa, ABC
In lieu of the former print editions of the Centralian Advocate, pages of the Darwin-based Northern Territory News are dedicated to central Australian content on certain days, and these articles are also available, through a subscription, on the NT News website. [14]
The Northern Territory is an Australian internal territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Australia to the west, South Australia to the south, and Queensland to the east. To the north, the territory looks out to the Timor Sea, the Arafura Sea and the Gulf of Carpentaria, including Western New Guinea and other islands of the Indonesian archipelago.
Alice Springs is a town in the Northern Territory, Australia; the third largest settlement after Darwin and Palmerston. The name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd, wife of the telegraph pioneer Sir Charles Todd. Known colloquially as The Alice or simply Alice, the town is situated roughly in Australia's geographic centre. It is nearly equidistant from Adelaide and Darwin.
Charles Darwin University (CDU) is an Australian public university with a main campus in Darwin and eight satellite campuses in some metropolitan and regional areas. It was established in 2003 after the merger of Northern Territory University, the Menzies School of Health Research, and Centralian College.
The Northern Territory News is a morning tabloid newspaper based in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. Owned by News Corp Australia, it is published every week from Monday to Saturday. It primarily serves Darwin and the rest of the Northern Territory and it covers local, national, and world news as well as sports and business. The paper currently has a Monday to Friday readership average of 44,000, reaching an average of 32,000 on Saturdays.
The Northern Territory Police Force is the police body that has legal jurisdiction over the Northern Territory of Australia. This police service has 1,607 police members made up of 83 senior sergeants, 228 sergeants, 912 constables, 220 auxiliaries, and 64 Aboriginal Community Police Officers. The rest of the positions are members of commissioned rank and inoperative positions. It also has a civilian staff working across the NT Police, Fire and Emergency Services.
The Central Land Council (CLC) is a land council that represents the Aboriginal peoples of the southern half of the Northern Territory of Australia (NT), predominantly with regard to land issues. it is one of four land councils in the Northern Territory, and covers the Central Australia region. The head office is located in Alice Springs.
Crime in the Northern Territory is managed by the Northern Territory Police, the territory government's Department of the Attorney-General and Justice and Territory Families.
The Alice Springs Public Library is a public library service in the Northern Territory. The library provides traditional library services to the community of Alice Springs (Mparntwe) and is an essential part of the Central Australian community and receives more than 120,000 visitors every year.
Gwoya Tjungurrayi, also spelt Gwoja Tjungarrayi, Gwoya Jungarai, and Gwoya Djungarai, and also known by his nickname One Pound Jimmy, is known for being the first Aboriginal person to be featured on an Australian postage stamp, in 1950, although his name was not used to describe the image on the stamp. A survivor of the 1928 Coniston massacre in the Northern Territory, he later became an elder and lawman of his people. The name Gwoya, is a non-Indigenous rendering of the Anmatyerr word 'Kwatye', meaning 'water' or 'rain'.
Many sports are played in the Northern Territory of Australia.
Library & Archives NT comprises the Northern Territory Library and the two Northern Territory Archives Centres in Darwin and Alice Springs. Located in Parliament House in Darwin City, it is the premier public research and archival organisation focused on the history, development and culture of the Northern Territory of Australia. The library holds more than 108,000 books and 30,000 items. The archive holds Northern Territory Government records, which are normally opened 30 years after they were created.
Mount Doreen Station is a 7,337-square-kilometre (2,833 sq mi) pastoral lease operating as a cattle station in the Northern Territory of Australia.
The Alice Springs Telegraph Station is located within the Alice Springs Telegraph Station Historical Reserve, four kilometres north of the Alice Springs town centre in the Northern Territory of Australia. Established in 1872 to relay messages between Darwin and Adelaide, it is the original site of the first European settlement in central Australia. It was one of twelve stations along the Overland Telegraph Line.
Jose Petrick OAM is a British-born Australian historian and community advocate living in Alice Springs in the Northern Territory.
Rona Ellen Glynn, also known briefly as Rona Schaber after marriage, was the first Indigenous Australian school teacher and nurse in Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. In 1965 she became the first Aboriginal woman to have a pre-school named in her honour in Australia.
Gloria Ouida Lee or Siew Yoke Kwan, also known as Gloria Purdy-Lee was a Chinese-Australian miner. She was the daughter of Alice Springs Chinese Market gardener Ah Hong and his Western Arrernte wife Ranjika. Lee travelled between Australia and China and experienced discrimination because of her mixed parentage. She is included in the archive collection of the Women's Museum of Australia, formerly known as the National Pioneer Women's Hall of Fame. Her oral history is held at the National Library of Australia.
Leonard Roy Tuit or Len Tuit (1911–1976) was a pioneer in Central Australian road transport and tourism and is credited as being the first person to recognised the tourism potential of Uluru.
The North Australia Party (NAP) was a short-lived political party in Australia's Northern Territory, primarily active in Alice Springs and the surrounding areas of Central Australia. It was founded in 1965 under the leadership of Lionel Rose and contested the Northern Territory Legislative Council election later that year, winning a single seat. The party has been cited as a predecessor of the modern Country Liberal Party (CLP).
James "Jim" Bowditch, (1919–1996) was an Australian newspaper editor who worked for the Alice Springs-based Centralian Advocate from 1950 to 1954 and the Darwin-based Northern Territory News from 1954 to 1973.
Her Majesty's Gaol and Labour Prison was a government run prison in Alice Springs in the Northern Territory which operated between 1938 and 1996. It was preceded by Stuart Town Gaol and replaced by the still operating Alice Springs Correctional Centre.
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