Sunday Independent (Western Australia)

The Sunday Independent
Type Weekly newspaper
Format Tabloid
Owner(s) Lang Hancock, Peter Wright
Founded April 1969
Ceased publication May 1986
Headquarters Perth, Western Australia
Circulation 70,000 (peak)

The Sunday Independent (also known as The Independent) was a Perth, Western Australian based weekly newspaper owned by mining entrepreneurs Lang Hancock[1] and Peter Wright.[2]

The paper was launched on 27 April 1969 as a Sunday only publication, under the banner The Independent, with its founding editor was Maxwell Newton (who was previously the foundation editor of The Australian).[3] On 3 January 1971 it was renamed The Sunday Independent.

Circulation was claimed to be 80,000 copies at its peak,[4] however it never seriously challenged that of its rival, the well established The Sunday Times.

In 1973 it ran as a daily for four weeks, as The Independent Sun, in direct competition with The West Australian.[5] It appeared from 10 October 1973 to 8 November 1973.[6]

Hancock largely relinquished his interest in the paper in the early 70s and in 1984 Wright sold his interest to Owen Thomson and Mark Day, owners of The Truth. Thomson became its editor-in-chief, his son Hamish was the paper's chief reporter. Later that year Thomson and Day sold it to News Limited, who also owned The Sunday Times, who moved it into the Sunday Times building in Perth and it was wound up on 24 May 1986. Stephen Fox was it last editor.

The Sunday Independent and The Independent Sun formed part of The Independent Group of Newspapers, which also included The Mandurah Advertiser, The Pilbara Advertiser and The Sound Advertiser.

References

  1. ↑ Adele Ferguson; Mark Hawthorne (5 February 2011). "Rinehart's road to riches no easy ride". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
  2. ↑ "Wright, Ernest A. M. (Peter)". Australian Propectors & Miners' Hall of Fame. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
  3. ↑ Groot, Murray. "Newton, Maxwell (1929–1990)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Australian National University. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
  4. ↑ Press, Radio and TV Guide. M. Gee Media Group. 1981. p. 109. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
  5. ↑ "New daily for WA". The Canberra Times (National Library of Australia). 12 October 1973. p. 7. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
  6. ↑ "Perth's new paper closes". The Age. 8 November 1973. p. 3. Retrieved 25 February 2014.

External links