The Sydney Morning Herald

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Sydney Morning Herald masthead


Front page of The Sydney Morning Herald
on 12 December 2005
Type Daily newspaper
Format Broadsheet
Owner John Fairfax Holdings
Editor Alan Oakley
Founded 1831
Price $1.20AUD Monday-Friday
$2.20AUD Saturday
Headquarters Australia 201 Sussex Street,
Sydney, NSW, Australia
Website: www.smh.com.au

The Sydney Morning Herald (often abbreviated to The Herald or SMH) is a major Australian broadsheet newspaper published daily in Australia's oldest and most populous city, Sydney. It is also the oldest Australian newspaper, having been continuously published since 1831.[1] Since then, over 51,000 editions have been produced.

Contents

[edit] Overview

The Sydney Morning Herald is recorded as being read by a stronger representation of the so-called, "AB demographic" than its Sydney-news competitor the Murdoch-owned Daily Telegraph. Like its equivalent (The Age) in Melbourne, it is often seen as the paper of the white collar middle class. Although nationally, it does compete for the "AB demographic" with the Murdoch-owned national broadsheet, The Australian.

Some of the Herald's noted columnists and contributors include David Marr, cartoonist Michael Leunig, Miranda Devine and Gerard Henderson. Recently, politicians Tony Abbott MP (Liberal, Warringah) and Tanya Plibersek MP (Labor, Sydney) have been given column space under the heading "Insight" for general comment. Historically the paper was characterised as a right of centre, old-school conservative organ of the Establishment, providing a counter-point within Fairfax's holdings to the liberal Melbourne Age, especially during David Syme's tenure as editor of the latter, and it did not editorialise in favour of Labor at a state election until 2003. The Fairfax papers (the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age), seen as centrist, are often contrasted with the News Limited papers (The Australian, The Daily Telegraph and the Herald Sun), which tend to be more right-leaning, and "the Fairfax press" is often used pejoratively by conservative commentators.

Its circulation is smaller than the Telegraph. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations as of March 2006, the Herald circulated 211,700 copies per weekday compared to 388,686 copies of the Telegraph. The Saturday editions of both papers are more closely matched. The Herald sells 365,500 copies to the Telegraph's 347,889. The Saturday edition of the Herald carries a massive classified section - a popular selling point and a powerful source of cash revenue for the company. In the coverage of Fairfax's business affairs, this revenue has often been referred to as "rivers of gold". Like The Age, the demographics of its readers are more attractive to many advertisers than its tabloid competitor.

The Sydney Morning Herald publishes a number of daily sections, as large-format magazines, some of which have been part of the newspaper's infrastructure for more than two decades. They currently include a motoring section, Drive, a food and lifestyle section, Good Living, a property section, Domain, and a television section, The Guide. It also produces two colour magazines, the weekly Good Weekend, and the monthly the(sydney)magazine. The cryptic crossword in the Sydney Morning Herald is popular. Column 8 is another long-running institution.

Since the advent of the Internet, the Herald has developed a comprehensive online presence with all major news stories available for online viewing and retained online for some time.

[edit] History

The Sydney Morning Herald began its life as a weekly newspaper, the Sydney Herald. It only had four pages and a circulation of 750 copies. The paper was named after Scotland's Glasgow Herald, and was founded by three Englishmen, Alfred Stephens, Frederick Stokes and William McGarvie.[1]

A decade later it was bought by Charles Kemp and John Fairfax. It became a daily newspaper in 1840, and in 1842 changed its name to The Sydney Morning Herald. Its editorial policies were based "upon principles of candour, honesty and honour. We have no wish to mislead; no interest to gratify by unsparing abuse or indiscriminate approbation."

The Fairfax family owned the newspaper for 149 years but lost control of it on December 11, 1990 following financial misadventure of Warwick Fairfax. It is currently controlled by John Fairfax Holdings.

The company also owns The Sun-Herald, the Sunday counterpart to the Herald, and a number of community newspapers in Sydney. It also owns various other newspapers and magazines throughout Australia and New Zealand, including The Age (a similar broadsheet newspaper published in Melbourne).

[edit] Ownership Update

Under a proposed AUS$2.9 Billion merger between Rural Press and Fairfax Media, John B. Fairfax of Marinya Media will hold a controlling stake in the company. This would signal a return to Fairfax family control for the first time since Warwick Fairfax.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/the-prince-of-print-returns-to-the-fold/2006/12/08/1165081151005.html

http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/fairfax-to-buy-back-the-farm/2006/12/06/1165081019146.html

[edit] Editors

[edit] Journalism

Prominent columnists and journalists who write for The Sydney Morning Herald include Robert Manne, Doug Anderson, Paul Sheehan, Anthony Dennis, Miranda Devine, Adele Horin, Michael Idato, Julia Baird, Mike Carlton, Gerard Henderson, Alan Ramsey, Peter FitzSimons, David Marr, Roy Masters, Keith Austin, Deborah Smith, Ed O'Loughlin, Maggie Alderson and Richard Glover.

[edit] Blogs

Notable include

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b "History of The Sydney Morning Herald", Sydney Morning Herald, retrieved 25 November 2006

[edit] External links

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