The West Australian
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
Please see the discussion on the talk page. |
 |
|
|---|---|
 Front page of The West Australian on 12 December 2005 |
|
| Type | Daily newspaper |
| Format | Tabloid |
|
|
|
| Owner | West Australian Newspapers Limited |
| Editor | Paul Armstrong |
| Founded | 1833 |
| Headquarters | 50 Hasler Road, Osborne Park, WA, Australia |
|
|
|
| Website: www.thewest.com.au | |
The West Australian (often simply called The West) is Perth's only locally edited daily newspaper, and is owned by ASX-listed West Australian Newspapers Limited. The second-oldest continuously produced newspaper in Australia, it has been published since 1833. It currently has a weekday circulation of 200,000, and a weekend circulation of 370,000 with its Saturday edition. [1]
The newspaper had a relative balance of international, national and local news prior to the changes brought about by television, the internet and 'local throw-away' or free community based newspapers. As is traditional with Western Australian newspapers, The West is published in tabloid format, like the state's other newspaper, The Sunday Times the News Limited local production.
Contemporary columnists of The West Australian include Paul Murray (previously an Editor of the newspaper) and Danny Katz (a Melbourne-based columnist for The Age newspaper whose column is also bought by The West).
A critique within some sections[citation needed] of the Perth community accuses The West Australian of having an insular and conservative outlook, and an editorial policy that gives greater prominence to stories which are likely to provoke reactions from people of a parochial and broadly conservative political persuasion. This view has been reinforced[citation needed] during the tenure of the current editor, Paul Armstrong. Recent targets of editorial campaigns[citation needed] have included controversy over the Introduction of a new education system, security issues, and controversy over new transport systems and their budget. Despite its editorial support[citation needed] of the Australian Labor Party during the 1989 state election, figures, such as Geoff Gallop and Bob Hawke have claimed the newspaper is heavily biased towards conservative parties[citation needed].
Contents |
[edit] History
The West Australian traces its origins to The Perth Gazette and Western Australian Journal, the first edition of which appeared on 5 January 1833. Owned and edited by Perth postmaster Charles Macfaull, it was originally a four page weekly. Eventually renamed The Perth Gazette, it ran until 3 July 1874, when it was bought out by a syndicate who renamed it The Western Australian Times and increased production to two editions a week. On 18 November 1879, the paper was relaunched as The West Australian. In October 1883, production was increased to three a week, and two years later it became a daily.
[edit] See also
- The Sunday Times - Western Australia's Sunday newspaper
- Catherine Ellen Martin
- List of newspapers in Australia
- Constable Care
[edit] References
- Haig, Ross (ed) (1984). The Years of News from The West Australian and Perth Daily News. Perth, Western Australia: St George Books. ISBN 0-86778-016-9.
[edit] External link
