| Type | Daily newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Broadsheet |
| Owner | News Limited |
| Editor | Chris Mitchell |
| Founded | 1964 |
| Political alignment | centre-right |
| Headquarters | 2 Holt Street, Surry Hills, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
| Official website | http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/ |
The Australian is a broadsheet newspaper published in Australia on Monday to Saturday each week since 1964. The editor is Chris Mitchell and the 'editor-at-large' is Paul Kelly.
The Australian is the biggest-selling national newspaper in the country, its chief rival being the business-focussed Australian Financial Review, with weekday sales of 135,000 and Saturday sales of 305,000. These figures are substantially below those enjoyed by metropolitan dailies in the major cities. The Australian is published by News Limited, which also owns the sole or most popular metropolitan daily in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Hobart and Darwin.[1]
Contents |
Persuasion
Mitchell has said that the editorial and op-ed pages of the newspaper are centre-right,[2] "comfortable with a mainstream Labor prime minister, just as it was quite comfortable with John Howard."[1] According to other commentators, however, the newspaper "is generally conservative in tone and heavily oriented toward business; it has a range of columnists of varying political persuasions but mostly to the right."[3] Along with other newspapers in Australia, during the 1990s "much and perhaps most of [the] commentary became aggressively right-wing", with most of the regular commentators in The Australian pushing "a conservative, pro-Coalition government line in almost everything they write," reacting against what they regard as a "left-liberal elite".[4]
It was generally supportive of Liberal Party leader John Howard's election and his subsequent government, and was nicknamed 'The Government Gazette' by left-wing journalists, including sections of the Canberra press gallery [5] however it did support Labor at the 2007 federal election. It was one of the first significant Australian voices to call for large-scale privatisation of state-owned industries.[6] According to writer David McKnight, the newspaper has become the most consistent Australian populariser of "hard-line free-market economics", employing "some of the best journalists in Australia." Its former editor Paul Kelly has stated that "The Australian has established itself in the marketplace as a newspaper that strongly supports economic libertarianism". The newspaper's neo-conservative political views come "largely from its columnists, its leaders, its invited contributors."[7]
The Australian has long maintained a focus on issues relating to Aboriginal disadvantage."[1] It also devotes attention to the information technology, Defence and mining industries,[1] as well as climate change. In 2008 the newspaper was named the 'Most Consistently Wrong Media Outlet' by the science blog Real Climate[8]
Recognition
The Australian journalist Hedley Thomas won the Gold Walkley Award in 2007.
Also in 2007, the newspaper's website won the Pacific Area Newspaper Publishers' Association Online Newspaper of the Year award.[9]
Parent
The Australian integrates content from overseas newspapers owned by News Limited's parent, News Corporation, including the Wall Street Journal and The Times.[1]
Sections
Daily sections include National News (The Nation) followed by Worldwide News (Worldwide), Sport and Business News (Business). Contained within each issue is a prominent op/ed section, including regular columnists and non-regular contributors. Other regular sections include Technology (AustralianIT), Media, Features, Legal Affairs, Aviation, Defence, Horse-Racing (Thoroughbreds), The Arts, Health, Wealth and Higher Education. A Travel & Indulgence section is included on Saturdays, along with The Inquirer, an in-depth analysis of major stories of the week, alongside much political commentary. Saturday lift-outs include Review, focusing on books, arts, film and television, and The Weekend Australian Magazine, the only national weekly glossy insert magazine. A glossy magazine, Wish, is published on the first Friday of the month.
Columnists
Regular columnists include Dennis Shanahan, Michael Stutchbury, Simon Adamek, Glenn Milne, Paul Kelly, George Megalogenis, Mike Steketee, Greg Sheridan, Alan Wood, Phillip Adams, Michael Costello, Janet Albrechtsen, Imre Salusinszky, Emma Tom and Angela Shanahan. It also features daily cartoons from Bill Leak and Peter Nicholson.
Occasional contributors include Gregory Melleuish, Kevin Donnelly, Tom Switzer, James Allan, Luke Slattery and Noel Pearson.
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e Manning, James (2008-03-10). "National daily plans new business website and monthly colour magazine". MediaWeek (Sydney, Australia) (854): 3,7,8.
- ^ Mitchell, Chris (March 9, 2006). The Media Report. Australian Broadcasting Company.
- ^ Clancy, Laurie (2004). Culture and customs of Australia. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 126. ISBN 9780313321696.
- ^ Solomon, David (2007). Pillars of power: Australia's institutions. Federation Press. p. 189. ISBN 9781862876453.
- ^ Polls apart at the Sausage sizzle. The Sydney Morning Herald. July 13, 2007.
- ^ Manne, Robert (2005). Do not disturb: is the media failing Australia?. Black Inc.. p. 59-60. ISBN 9780975076941.
- ^ Knight, Alan (2006). "Australia: Media and Globalization". The media globe: trends in international mass media. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 122. ISBN 9780742540941.
- ^ 2008 Year in review
- ^ Elks, Sarah (August 9, 2007). The Australian wins online newspaper award. News.com.au.
External links
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