The Southland Times

Last updated

The Southland Times
Invercargill, NZ - 33646942832.jpg
The former Southland Times building
TypeDaily (except Sunday) Newspaper
Format Tabloid
Owner(s) Stuff Ltd
EditorNatasha Holland
Founded1862
Headquarters Invercargill, New Zealand
Circulation 23, 231
ISSN 0112-9910
Website www.stuff.co.nz/southlandtimes/

The Southland Times is the regional daily paper for Southland, including Invercargill, and neighbouring parts of Otago, in New Zealand. It is now owned by media business Stuff Ltd, formerly the New Zealand division of Fairfax Media.

Contents

History

Demolition of The Southland Times building in 2020 with the facade retained. The Southland Times building facade 2020.jpg
Demolition of The Southland Times building in 2020 with the facade retained.
One of the Baku (Southland Times, 7 November 1903) One of the Baku (Southland Times, 07 November 1903).gif
One of the Baku (Southland Times, 7 November 1903)

The Southland Times was first established in 1862. The first edition was published on 12 November 1862 under the title of Invercargill Times. The three founders were Gerard George Fitzgerald, John T. Downes, and Charles Reynolds. The name changed to The Southland Times in June 1864. [1] Initially, it was published two or three times a week until it became a daily paper in 1875. From 1869 until its purchase by the INL (Independent Newspapers Limited), it was owned by the Gilmour family. Robert Gilmour became a part owner in 1869–70, and then in 1879 became the sole owner of the paper.

In 1972, digital computers and software, phototypesetters, and a Japanese APR photopolymer plate were installed at the paper, making the Times New Zealand's first fully computerised newspaper production system under the direction of Ian Gilmour.

The paper changed hands again on 1 July 2003, when Independent Newspapers Limited was purchased by Australian media company Fairfax Media. [2]

In May 2012 local printing of The Southland Times ceased with all printing now taking place from Allied Press in Dunedin. Smaller community papers that are usually printed once a week are now printed from Christchurch. [3]

In July 2015 The Southland Times building located on Esk Street was sold to the Invercargill Licensing Trust. [4] A year later The Southland Times relocated to a new building on the corner of Don and Deveron Streets. [5] In 2017 the Invercargill City Council and HWR Group formed HWCP Management Limited with the purpose of redeveloping the Invercargill CDB. The Southland Times building and most buildings on the city block surrounding Dee Street, Tay Street, Kelvin Street and Esk Street were purchased by HWCP with the intentions of redeveloping the city block into an innercity mall. [6] Plans for the new mall were first unveiled in 2018 and in 2019 an announcement was made that The Southland Times building would be demolished but the building facade retained, a Farmers department store would be built on The Southland Times building site as the anchor tennant in the mall. [7] The demolition of the city block began in January 2020 and construction began in October 2020. In November 2021 current and former staff from The Southland Times were invited to sign the rear of The Southland Times building facade prior to the facade being plastered. [8] On July 14 2022 the first stage of the Invercargill Central Mall was opened including the Farmers Department store. [9]

Awards and nominations

At the 2018 Voyager Media Awards The Southland Times' photographer Kavinda Herath won the Best Photo (Junior) Award. [10]

Other publications

The Southland Times also published:

The Invercargill Eye

The Invercargill Eye was distributed weekly in the area surrounding Invercargill and Winton.

NewsLink was distributed weekly in the area surrounding Gore and Eastern Southland. [11]

The Queenstown Mirror

The Queenstown Mirror was published weekly on Wednesdays in two editions: one for the Queenstown Lakes District and another for Central Otago. [12]

Otago Southland Farmer

The Otago Southland Farmer was delivered fortnightly to all rural homes in Southland and Otago. [13]

Auto Xtra

Auto Xtra was an A4 glossy car publication, published fortnightly on a Monday, inserted into The Southland Times, and distributed to retail outlets in Invercargill.

Fairfax announced in 2018 that it would close or sell these publications. [14]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Queenstown, New Zealand</span> Resort town in New Zealands South Island

Queenstown is a resort town in Otago in the south-west of New Zealand's South Island. It has an urban population of 29,000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Invercargill</span> City in the South Island of New Zealand

Invercargill is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. The city lies in the heart of the wide expanse of the Southland Plains to the east of the Ōreti or New River some 18 km north of Bluff, which is the southernmost town in the South Island. It sits amid rich farmland that is bordered by large areas of conservation land and marine reserves, including Fiordland National Park covering the south-west corner of the South Island and the Catlins coastal region.

Winton is a rural town in Southland, New Zealand. It is located close to the east bank of the Ōreti River, 30 kilometres north of Invercargill and 50 kilometres south of Lumsden. The town is named after Thomas Winton, a local stockman who lived and farmed in the area in the 1850s. The district thrived with the development of sheep and fat-lamb farms in the early 1900s. Later, dairy farming became the staple economy, although the town has also seen sawmills, and flax and linen-flax industries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lumsden, New Zealand</span> Town in the South Island of New Zealand

Lumsden is a town in Southland, New Zealand. Lying in a gap in the surrounding hills, Lumsden is the location of a major junction on State Highway 6. Lumsden is 81 kilometres north of Invercargill, 106 kilometres south of Queenstown, 59 kilometres west of Gore and 77 kilometres east of Te Anau.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stuff (company)</span> New Zealand news media company

Stuff Ltd is a privately held news media company operating in New Zealand. It operates Stuff, the country's largest news website, and owns nine daily newspapers, including New Zealand's second and third-highest circulation daily newspapers, The Post and The Press, and the highest circulation weekly, Sunday Star-Times. Magazines published include TV Guide, New Zealand's top-selling weekly magazine. Stuff also owns social media network Neighbourly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tim Shadbolt</span> New Zealand politician

Sir Timothy Richard Shadbolt is a New Zealand politician. He was the Mayor of Invercargill from 1998 to 2022, and previously Mayor of Waitemata City.

<i>The Press</i> New Zealand newspaper

The Press is a daily newspaper published in Christchurch, New Zealand, owned by media business Stuff Ltd. First published in 1861, the newspaper is the largest circulating daily in the South Island and publishes Monday to Saturday. One community newspaper—Northern Outlook—is also published by The Press and is free.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allied Press</span> News publishing company based in Dunedin, New Zealand


Allied Press is an independent New Zealand media and publishing company based in Dunedin. The company's main asset is the Otago Daily Times, New Zealand's oldest daily newspaper. Allied Press has a number of other daily and community newspapers and commercial printing operations throughout the South Island including the Canterbury–based media company Star Media. It also operates Dunedin's regional television station, Channel 39, on Freeview HD.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">H & J Smith</span>

H & J Smith Holdings Ltd, branded as H & J Smith and known colloquially as H&J's or Smith's is a company which operates in the lower South Island of New Zealand. The company was founded in 1900. It operates a network of franchises. The company previously operated department stores around the South Island with the flagship store in Invercargill.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arthur Barnett Ltd</span>

Arthur Barnett Ltd, trading as Arthur Barnett and often referred to as Arthur Barnett's, was a department store in Dunedin, New Zealand. Established in 1903 by Arthur Barnett the store first began as a drapery for men and boys, progressing over the years to become one of Dunedin's most successful department stores. As well as their flagship George Street store, Arthur Barnett had stores in Balclutha, Alexandra, Oamaru, and Christchurch. They also briefly had a branch in Melbourne which operated from 1970 to 1977. This branch sold mainly carpeting and furniture. The final Arthur Barnett store and its online store was taken over by Invercargill-based department store chain H & J Smith in 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Walker Bain</span> New Zealand politician

James Walker Bain was a 19th-century New Zealand politician. He was a significant businessman in Invercargill and Southland.

Paul Andrew Reid is a New Zealand actor, musician and property developer. He played Marshall Heywood on the television series Shortland Street from 2001 to 2004, and was also a member of the band Rubicon. He now owns a commercial property investment company in Auckland and is the drummer for Auckland-based rock band Capital Theatre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caley Hall</span>

Caley J. Hall is classified as a listed New Zealand investment artist in Invercargill and Queenstown, New Zealand. Hall specializes in oil painting, and is well known for his Fiordland landscapes and expressionist abstracts. A largely self-taught artist, he has learned techniques and takes inspiration from other New Zealand artists, including renowned Queenstown-based painter Tim Wilson, Canterbury wilderness artist Nathanael Provis and Central Otago-based painter Peter Beadle. He exhibited his large abstracts at the Peppers Bluewater Resort in Tekapo in 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Mooney (New Zealand politician)</span> New Zealand politician (born 1979)

Joseph Mooney is a New Zealand politician. In 2020 he was elected as a Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives for the National Party in the Southland electorate.

The 2022 Invercargill mayoral election took place on 8 October 2022 as part of the New Zealand local elections. Incumbent mayor Tim Shadbolt unsuccessfully sought a tenth term against nine other candidates, losing to his deputy Nobby Clark.

The Mother of All Protests was a series of nationwide protests in New Zealand on 21 November 2021, organised by the farming advocacy group Groundswell NZ to oppose the government's rural sector regulations and policies. Protests took place in 70 cities and towns across New Zealand. Due to controversy around racist signage in the previous Howl of a Protest campaign, Groundswell issued a list of approved messages for participants.

H. W. Richardson Group is a New Zealand company that provides fuel distribution and retailing through its Allied Petroleum brand in New Zealand and its Petrogas brand in Victoria, Australia. It also owns companies in the concrete, transport, contracting, aggregate quarrying, and waste disposal sectors, operating predominantly in the South Island.

Invercargill Central is a shopping centre located in the central business district of Invercargill, New Zealand. Stage one of the project opened on 14 July 2022.

William Stuart "Nobby" Clark is a New Zealand politician, serving as the Mayor of Invercargill since 2022. He has also served on the Invercargill City Council since 2019 and as deputy mayor since 2020.

References

  1. "Southland Times". PapersPast . Retrieved 20 February 2015.
  2. The Southland Times: a division of Fairfax Media
  3. "Print plant to close". The Southland Times. 22 March 2012. Retrieved 16 January 2013.
  4. "Southland Times building sold". Stuff. 21 July 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
  5. Weaver, Georgia (24 December 2015). "The Southland Times to farewell a building steeped in history". Stuff. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
  6. Harding, Evan (5 January 2018). "Massive Invercargill CBD upgrade plan involves demolishing many buildings". Stuff. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
  7. Harding, Evan (26 August 2019). "Invercargill CBD development all go, Farmers the anchor tenant". Stuff. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
  8. Steyl, Louisa (22 November 2021). "Signing off on the old Southland Times building, one last time". Stuff. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
  9. Ahmed, Uma (14 July 2022). "Invercargill CBD development opens to the public". Stuff. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
  10. "2018 winners". Voyager Media Awards. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  11. Fairfax Media: Publications
  12. Fairfax Media: Publications
  13. "Southland Times history". The Southland Times. 2 March 2009. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
  14. "Fairfax to sell or close 28 print mastheads". The New Zealand Herald. 21 February 2018. Retrieved 10 June 2023.