The Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) is a daily tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the Sydney Herald, the Herald is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Australia and claims to be the most widely-read masthead in the country.[3] The newspaper is published in compact print form from Monday to Saturday as The Sydney Morning Herald and on Sunday as its sister newspaper, The Sun-Herald and digitally as an online site and app, seven days a week.[4] It is considered a newspaper of record for Australia.[5][6] The print edition of The Sydney Morning Herald is available for purchase from many retail outlets throughout the Sydney metropolitan area, most parts of regional New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory and South East Queensland.
The Sydney Morning Herald publishes a variety of supplements, including the magazines Good Weekend (included in the Saturday edition of The Sydney Morning Herald); and Sunday Life. There are a variety of lift-outs, some of them co-branded with online classified-advertising sites:
The Guide (television) on Mondays
Good Food (food) and Domain (real estate) on Tuesdays
Money (personal finance) on Wednesdays
Drive (motoring), Shortlist (entertainment) on Fridays
News Review, Spectrum (arts and entertainment guide), Domain (real estate), Drive (motoring) and MyCareer (employment) on Saturdays
The executive editor is James Chessell and the editor is Bevan Shields. Tory Maguire is national editor, Monique Farmer is life editor, and the publisher is chief digital and publishing officer Chris Janz.
The cover of the newspaper's first edition, on 18 April 1831Sydney Morning Herald building on the corner of Pitt and Hunter Streets, built 1856, demolished in the 1920s for a larger building
The Sydney Herald was founded in 1831 by three employees of the now-defunct Sydney Gazette: Ward Stephens, Frederick Stokes, and William McGarvie. A Centenary Supplement (since digitised) was published in 1931.[9] The original four-page weekly had a print run of 750. The newspaper began to publish daily in 1840, and the operation was purchased in 1841 by an Englishman named John Fairfax who renamed it The Sydney Morning Herald the following year.[10] Fairfax, whose family were to control the newspaper for almost 150 years, based his editorial policies "upon principles of candour, honesty and honour. We have no wish to mislead; no interest to gratify by unsparing abuse or indiscriminate approbation."
The SMH was late to the trend of printing news rather than just advertising on the front page, doing so from 15April 1944. Of the country's metropolitan dailies, only The West Australian was later in making the switch. The newspaper launched a Sunday edition, The Sunday Herald, in 1949. Four years later, this was merged with the newly acquired Sun newspaper to create The Sun-Herald, which continues to this day.
By the mid-1960s, a new competitor had appeared in Rupert Murdoch's national daily The Australian, which was first published on 15July 1964.
John Fairfax & Sons Limited commemorated the Herald's 150th anniversary in 1981 by presenting the City of Sydney with Stephen Walker's sculpture, Tank Stream Fountain.[13]
In 1995, the company launched the newspaper's web edition smh.com.au.[14] The site has since grown to include interactive and multimedia features beyond the content in the print edition. Around the same time, the organisation moved from Jones Street to new offices at Darling Park and built a new printing press at Chullora, in the city's west. The SMH later moved with other Sydney Fairfax divisions to a building at Darling Island.
In May 2007, Fairfax Media announced it would be moving from a broadsheet format to the smaller compact or tabloid-size, in the footsteps of The Times, for both The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.[15] After abandoning these plans later in the year, Fairfax Media again announced in June 2012 its plan to shift both broadsheet newspapers to tabloid size, with effect from March 2013.[16] Fairfax also announced it would cut staff across the entire group by 1,900 over three years and erect paywalls around the papers' websites.[17] The subscription type was to be a freemium model, limiting readers to a number of free stories per month, with a payment required for further access.[18] The announcement was part of an overall "digital first" strategy of increasingly digital or on-line content over printed delivery, to "increase sharing of editorial content," and to assist the management's wish for "full integration of its online, print and mobile platforms."[17]
It was announced in July 2013 that the SMH's news director, Darren Goodsir, would become editor-in-chief, replacing Sean Aylmer.[19]
On 22 February 2014, the Saturday edition was produced in broadsheet format for the final time, with this too converted to compact format on 1March 2014,[20] ahead of the decommissioning of the printing plant at Chullora in June 2014.[21]
In June 2022, the paper received global coverage and backlash to an attempted outing of Australian actress Rebel Wilson by columnist Andrew Hornery, and the subsequent defence of his since-deleted column by editor Bevan Shields; Wilson pre-empted the Hornery disclosure with an Instagram post confirming her relationship.[22][23][24]
Daily Life Woman of the Year
In 2012, Woman of the Year (WOTY) awards were created by the editor of the Daily Life section, Sarah Oakes, inspired by the sexism faced by former prime minister Julia Gillard. Winners were selected as the result of voting by the public as well as a panel of judges appointed by Fairfax. Winners have included:[25]
The contemporary editorial stance of the Sydney Morning Herald is generally centrist.[29] It has been described as the most centrist of Australia's three major news publications (the others being The Australian and The Age).[29] In 2004, the newspaper's editorial page stated: "market libertarianism and social liberalism" were the two "broad themes" that guided the Herald's editorial stance.[30] During the 1999 referendum on whether Australia should become a republic, the Herald (like the other two major papers) strongly supported a "yes" vote.[31]
At the state level, the Herald has consistently backed the Coalition; the only time since 1973[38] that it has endorsed a Labor government for New South Wales was Bob Carr's government in the 2003 election, though it declined to endorse either party three times during this period.[32]
The Herald endorsed Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in the run-up for the 2016 U.S. presidential election.[39]
The Herald endorsed the Liberal-National Coalition in the run-up for the 2023 New South Wales state election.[40]
In May 2023, the Herald opposed the extradition of former WikiLeaks editor Julian Assange to the United States, with the newspaper conducting a poll that found 79% oppose Assange's extradition to the United States.[41]
Colonial era
In its early days as The Sydney Herald, the newspaper's editorial stance at times reflected racist attitudes of the colony, with the paper urging squatters across Australia to emulate the mass killing of Native Americans. The front page of the paper on December 26, 1836 read: "If nothing but extermination will do, they will exterminate the savages as they would wild beasts."[42] In the wake of the Myall Creek massacre in which at least twenty-eight unarmed Wirraayaraay men, women and children were murdered by a group of white stockmen, the paper published a long letter from a squatter in defence the killings.[43] The squatter described the Indigenous inhabitants of Australia as "the most degenerate, despicable, and brutal race of beings in existence", writing: "they will, and must become extinct – civilization destroys them – where labor and industry flourish, they die!"[44]
Fairfax went public in 1957 and grew to acquire interests in magazines, radio, and television. The group collapsed spectacularly on 11 December 1990 when Warwick Fairfax, who was the great-great-grandson of John Fairfax, attempted to privatise the group by borrowing $1.8 billion. The group was bought by Conrad Black before being re-listed in 1992. In 2006, Fairfax announced a merger with Rural Press, which brought in a Fairfax family member, John B. Fairfax, as a significant player in the company.[50] From 10 December 2018, Fairfax Media merged into Nine Entertainment, making the paper a sister to the Nine Network's TCN station.[51] This reunited the paper with a television station; Fairfax had been the founding owner of ATN, which became the flagship of what became the Seven Network.
Content
Column 8
Column 8 is a short column to which Herald readers send their observations of interesting happenings. It was first published on 11 January 1947.[52] The name comes from the fact that it originally occupied the final (8th) column of the broadsheet newspaper's front page. In a front-page redesign in the lead-up to the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000, Column 8 moved to the back page of the first section from 31 July 2000.[53] As at February 2024, the column is the final column on the Opinion (editorial and letters) pages.
The content tends to the quirky, typically involving strange urban occurrences, instances of confusing signs (often in Engrish), word play, and discussion of more or less esoteric topics.[54]
The column is also sometimes affectionately known as Granny's Column, after a fictional grandmother who supposedly edited it.[52] The column's original logo was a caricature of Sydney Deamer, originator of the column and its author for 14 years.[53][55]
It was edited for 15 years by George Richards, who retired on 31 January 2004.[52][56] Other editors besides Deamer and Richards have been Duncan Thompson, Bill Fitter, Col Allison, Jim Cunningham, Pat Sheil, and briefly, Peter Bowers and Lenore Nicklin.[56] The column is, as of March 2017, edited by Herald journalist Tim Barlass, who frequently appends reader contributions with puns; and who made the decision to reduce the column's publication from its traditional six days a week, down to just weekdays.[57]
Opinion
The Opinion section is a regular of the daily newspaper, containing opinion on a wide range of issues. Mostly concerned with relevant political, legal and cultural issues, the section presents work by regular columnists, including Herald political editor Peter Hartcher, Ross Gittins, as well as occasional reader-submitted content. Iconoclastic Sydney barrister Charles C. Waterstreet, upon whose life the television workplace comedy Rake is loosely based, had a regular humour column in this section.
Good Weekend
Good Weekend was launched in May 1978, as a Saturday magazine appearing in both SMH and The Canberra Times.[58] The editor was Valerie Lawson, and Cyprian Fernandes was founding chief sub-editor.[59][60]
It is now[when?] distributed with both The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age in Saturday editions. It contains, on average, four feature articles written by its stable of writers and others syndicated from overseas as well as sections on food, wine, and fashion. Writers include Stephanie Wood, Jane Cadzow, Melissa Fyfe, Tim Elliott, Konrad Marshall, and Amanda Hooton.[citation needed]
Other sections include "Modern Guru", which features humorous columnists including Danny Katz responding to the everyday dilemmas of readers; a Samurai Sudoku; and "The Two of Us", containing interviews with a pair of close friends, relatives or colleagues.[citation needed]
Good Weekend is edited by Katrina Strickland.[when?] Previous editors include Ben Naparstek, Judith Whelan and Fenella Souter.[citation needed]
The Age is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, The Age primarily serves Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and border regions of South Australia and southern New South Wales. It is delivered both in print and digital formats. The newspaper shares some articles with its sister newspaper the Sydney Morning Herald.
The Australian, with its Saturday edition The Weekend Australian, is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964. As the only Australian daily newspaper distributed nationally, its readership as of September 2019 of both print and online editions was 2,394,000. Its editorial line has been self-described over time as centre-right.
The West Australian is the only locally edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia. It is owned by Seven West Media (SWM), as is the state's other major newspaper, The Sunday Times. It is the second-oldest continuously produced newspaper in Australia, having been published since 1833. It tends to have conservative leanings, and has mostly supported the Liberal–National Party Coalition. It has Australia's largest share of market penetration of any newspaper in the country.
Joseph Benedict Hockey is an Australian former politician and diplomat. He was the Member of Parliament for North Sydney from 1996 until 2015. He was the Treasurer of Australia in the Abbott government from 18 September 2013 until September 2015 when he resigned from Cabinet, having refused an alternative offer from the incoming Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull. He previously served as the Minister for Human Services and Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations in the Howard government. He also served as Ambassador of Australia to the United States from January 2016 until January 2020.
The Courier-Mail is an Australian newspaper published in Brisbane. Owned by News Corp Australia, 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. It is available for purchase both online and in paper form throughout Queensland, most regions of Northern New South Wales and parts of the Northern Territory.
The New Zealand Herald is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand.
The Australian Financial Review (AFR) is an Australian business-focused, compact daily newspaper covering the current business and economic affairs of Australia and the world. The newspaper is based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; owned by Nine Entertainment and has been published continuously since its founding in 1951. The AFR, along with the rest of Fairfax Media, was sold to Nine Entertainment for more than A$2.3 billion. The AFR is published in tabloid format six times a week, whilst providing 24/7 online coverage through its website. In November 2019, the AFR reached 2.647 million Australians through both print and digital mediums (Mumbrella).
Adrian Milford Deamer was an Australian journalist, newspaper editor and lawyer.
Michael James Carlton, is an Australian former media commentator, radio host, television journalist, author and newspaper columnist. He formerly co-hosted the daily breakfast program on Sydney radio station 2UE with Peter FitzSimons and later Sandy Aloisi.
Sydney Harold Deamer was a newspaper journalist, an editor and soldier.
Fairfax Media was a media company in Australia and New Zealand, with investments in newspaper, magazines, radio and digital properties. The company was founded by John Fairfax as John Fairfax and Sons, who purchased The Sydney Morning Herald in 1841. The Fairfax family retained control of the business until late in the 20th century.
Margaret Mary Jones was an Australian journalist, noted for being one of the first accredited to China after the Cultural Revolution, and first female Foreign Editor on any Australian newspaper. Described as a "trailblazer for women journalists", she wrote for John Fairfax Limited for a total of thirty-three years.
Michael Francis McCormack is an Australian politician who served as the 18th deputy prime minister of Australia from 2018 to 2021 under Prime Ministers Malcolm Turnbull and later Scott Morrison. He was also Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development, having previously served as Minister for Defence Personnel and Minister for Veterans' Affairs from 2017 to 2018. McCormack has been a member of the House of Representatives since 2010, representing the Division of Riverina in New South Wales. He was a newspaper editor before entering politics.
Bernard Zuel is an Australian music journalist. Zuel wrote for Fairfax Media newspapers The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald from 1992 to 2017. He became their senior music writer and reviewer. Zuel is a judge of the Australian Music Prize award. At the end of June 2017 he left Fairfax Media to become a freelance journalist and also taught music journalism.
The Canberra Times is a daily newspaper in Canberra, Australia, which is published by Australian Community Media. It was founded in 1926, and has changed ownership and format several times.
The Cootamundra Herald is a former printed bi-weekly newspaper now existing only on-line and containing little or no news of direct relevance to the community of Cootamundra, New South Wales, Australia. The Herald website carries syndicated non-local copy with occasional government media releases referring to local issues. Following the purchase of the masthead in 2019 by Australian Community Media, the Herald office which had existed for 144 years in the main street was closed and local staff were forced to work part-time from home. The staff resigned or were eventually sacked, and there are now no local Herald employees generating content related to the town.
Laura Margaret Tingle is an Australian journalist and author.
The New Daily is an online Australian newspaper founded in 2013, owned by Solstice Media. The founding editor, Bruce Guthrie, is as of June 2019 the editorial director.
Michael West is an Australian investigative journalist. He is the founder of Michael West Media, a news website specialising in investigative journalism in the areas of business, finance, tax, and energy.
Gay Alcorn is an Australian journalist and newspaper editor. She was appointed editor of The Age in September 2020 and stepped down in December 2022. Her sister, Margo Kingston, is also a journalist.
1 2 Andrea L. Everett, Humanitarian Hypocrisy: Civilian Protection and the Design of Peace Operations (Cornell University Press, 2017), p. 253: "SMH ... is also generally seen as the most politically centrist of the three largest-circulation non-tabloid newspaper [in Australia]: SMH, the Australian, and the Age)."
↑ Mark McKenna, "The Australian Republic: Still Captive After All These Years" in Constitutional Politics: The Republic Referendum and the Future (eds. John Warhurst & Malcolm Mackerras: (University of Queensland Press, 2002), p. 151.
↑ Souter, Gavin (1983). "Deamer, Sydney Harold (1891–1962)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISSN1833-7538. Retrieved 15 January 2008. Moving to the Sydney Morning Herald, from 1947 to 1961 Deamer was founding editor of 'Column 8', a daily, front-page feature of miscellaneous paragraphs under a symbolic drawing of 'Granny Herald' whose waspish features bore a resemblance to his own. He retired in February 1961.
↑ "32.31 Column 8 Changes Style"(PDF). Australian Newspaper History Group Newsletter (32). May 2005. Archived from the original(PDF) on 16 February 2008. Retrieved 15 January 2008. The Column 8 has a new editor, Pat Sheil, and he is changing the style of the 58-year-old Sydney Morning Herald column. "I am trying to make it a bit edgier than it was", he told MediaWeek (11 April 2005, p.6). "Basically, Column 8 should be like a chat, without making it too trite or stupid." George Richards edited Column 8 for fifteen and a half years before retiring early last year (see ANHG 26.19). James Cockington edited it until handing over to Sheil in February this year.
↑ "Good Weekend". The Canberra Times. Vol.59, no.18, 042. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 20 February 1985. p.1. Retrieved 6 January 2024– via National Library of Australia.
↑ "Advertising". The Canberra Times. Vol.60, no.18, 261. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 29 September 1985. p.4 (Good Weekend). Retrieved 6 January 2024– via National Library of Australia.
↑ Veage, John (14 February 2017). "Yesterday in Paradise". St George & Sutherland Shire Leader. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
↑ Brown, Jerelynn (2011). "Tabloids in the State Library of NSW collection: A reflection of life in Australia". Australian Journal of Communication. 38 (2): 107–121.
Further reading
Merrill, John C. and Harold A. Fisher. The world's great dailies: profiles of fifty newspapers (1980) pp 314–19
Gavin Souter (1981) Company of Heralds: a century and a half of Australian publishing by John Fairfax Limited and its predecessors, 1831-1981 Carlton, Victoria: Melbourne University Press, ISBN0522842186
Gavin Souter (1992) Heralds and angels: the house of Fairfax 1841-1992 Ringwood, Victoria: Penguin Books, ISBN0140173307
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