''The Advertiser'' is a daily tabloid format newspaper based in the city of

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater A ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. First published as a broadsheet named ''The South Australian Advertiser'' on 12 July 1858,''The South Australian Advertiser'', published 1858–1889
National Library of Australia, digital newspaper library. it is currently a tabloid printed from Monday to Saturday. ''The Advertiser'' came under the ownership of Keith Murdoch in the 1950s, and the full ownership of

Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian-born American business magnate. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including ...

in 1987. It is a publication of Advertiser Newspapers Pty Ltd (ADV), a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, itself a subsidiary of News Corp. Through much of the 20th century, ''The Advertiser'' was Adelaide's morning broadsheet, '' The News'' the afternoon tabloid, with '' The Sunday Mail'' covering weekend sport, and '' Messenger Newspapers'' community news. The head office was relocated from a former premises in King William Street, to a new News Corp office complex, known as Keith Murdoch House at 31 Waymouth Street.

History

''The South Australian Advertiser''

An early major daily colonial newspaper, ''

The Adelaide Times The ''Adelaide Times'' was an early newspaper founded by James Allen and printed in Adelaide, the capital of the then colony of South Australia. It was published between 2 October 1848 and 8 May 1858, and evolved through a series of names and pub ...

'', ceased publication on 9 May 1858. Shortly afterwards, Reverend John Henry Barrow, a former editor of the '' South Australian Register'' founded the morning newspaper ''The South Australian Advertiser'' and a companion weekly '' The South Australian Weekly Chronicle.'' The original owners were Barrow and

Charles Henry Goode Sir Charles Henry Goode (, 26 May 1827 – 5 February 1922) was a British Australian merchant, businessman, politician and philanthropist in the early days South Australia. He founded Goode, Durrant and Company in 1882. History He was born a ...

, and the first issues were published on 12 July 1858 and 17 July 1858 respectively. It initially consisted of four pages, each of seven columns, and cost 4 pence. In 1863 the company started an afternoon newspaper '' The Express'' as a competitor to '' The Telegraph'', an afternoon/evening daily paper independent of both ''The Advertiser'' and the ''South Australian Register''. The company was then re-formed, effective 9 September 1864, with additional shareholders Philip Henry Burden,

John Baker John Baker or Jon Baker may refer to: Military figures *John Baker (American Revolutionary War) (1731–1787), American Revolutionary War hero, for whom Baker County, Georgia was named *John Baker (RAF officer) (1897–1978), British air marshal ...

, Captain Scott, James Counsell, Thomas Graves and others. Burden, secretary of the company, died in 1864, and Barrow, whose wife had died in 1856, married his widow in 1865, thus owning together a quarter of the company. In December 1866, the syndicate bought the now defunct ''The Telegraph'' (by this time renamed ''The Daily Telegraph'' with a morning edition and a weekend ''Weekly Mail'') at auction, and incorporated it with ''The Express'' to form ''

The Express and Telegraph ''The Telegraph'' was a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, founded in 1862, and merged with '' The Express'' to become ''The Express and Telegraph'', published from 1867 to 1922. History ''The Adelaide Telegraph'' The Adelaide ''Teleg ...

''. In 1871, when the shareholders were Barrow, Goode, Robert Stuckey, Thomas Graves, William Parkin, Thomas King, James Counsell, and George Williams Chinner, the partnership was dissolved and the business was carried on by Barrow and King. J. H. Barrow died on 22 August 1874, and Thomas King ran the papers for himself and Mrs. Barrow for about five years. In 1879 a new firm was created, consisting of Thomas King, Fred Burden (son of P. H. Burden and adopted son of J. H. Barrow), and

John Langdon Bonython Sir John Langdon Bonython (;Charles Earle Funk, ''What's the Name, Please?'' (Funk & Wagnalls, 1936). 15 October 184822 October 1939) was an Australian editor, newspaper proprietor, philanthropist, journalist and politician who served a ...

. In July 1884, Thomas King dropped out, and the firm of Burden & Bonython was formed to run the paper.

''The Advertiser''

On 1 April 1889, the main publication was re-branded with an abbreviated title, ''The Advertiser''. In December 1891, Burden retired, and sold his share of the company to Bonython,W. B. Pitcher
Bonython, Sir John Langdon (1848–1939)
''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', Volume 7, Melbourne University Press, 1979, pp 339–341 who, from 1894 to 1929, became the sole proprietor of ''The Advertiser''. As well as being a talented newspaper editor, he also supported the movement towards the

Federation of Australia The Federation of Australia was the process by which the six separate British self-governing colonies of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia (which also governed what is now the Northern Territory), and Western ...

. Later, in 1923, after a run of 60 years, ''The Express'' was stopped just as its renamed rival, ''The News'', was starting. On 12 January 1929, ''The Mail'' announced that Bonython had sold ''The Advertiser'' for £1,250,000 to a group of Melbourne financiers ''

The Herald and Weekly Times The Herald and Weekly Times Pty Ltd (HWT) is a newspaper publishing company based in Melbourne, Australia. It is owned and operated by News Pty Ltd, which as News Ltd, purchased the HWT in 1987. Newspapers The HWT's newspaper interests date b ...

'', an external media company, now had the controlling stake, but Bonython still retained a 48.7% interest. Bonython then retired from his newspapers in 1929, after 65 years' service, and his son,

John Lavington Bonython Sir John Lavington Bonython (10 September 1875 – 6 November 1960) was a prominent public figure in Adelaide, known for his work in journalism, business and politics. In association with his father, he became involved in the management of ...

, became editor.W. B. Pitcher
Bonython, Sir John Lavington (1875–1960)
''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', Volume 7, Melbourne University Press, 1979, pp 341–342. In February 1931, in the wake of the Great Depression, ''The Advertiser'' took over and shut down its ailing competitors, ''

The Register ''The Register'' is a British technology news website co-founded in 1994 by Mike Magee, John Lettice and Ross Alderson. The online newspaper's masthead sublogo is "''Biting the hand that feeds IT''." Their primary focus is information tech ...

'' (published 1836-1931), ''The Chronicle'' (''Register's'' Saturday sister publication), and ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper Sunday editions, published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group, Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. ...

'' (published 1843-1931), briefly renaming itself for seven months as ''The Advertiser and Register''.

News Corp Australia

On the death of Keith Murdoch in 1952, ownership of ''The News'' and ''The Mail'' passed to his son

via

News Limited News Corp Australia is an Australian media conglomerate and wholly owned subsidiary of the American News Corp. One of Australia's largest media conglomerates, News Corp Australia employs more than 8,000 staff nationwide and approximately 3,0 ...

. Following the handover, and in response to suggestions of external influences from Victoria made by competing newspaper ''The Mail'', the Chairman of ''The Advertiser's'' board published its policy in ''The Advertiser'' as follows:

"It is the same today as when the late Sir Langdon Bonython was in sole control. It is based upon a profound pride and belief in South Australia, and the system of private enterprise which has made this State what it is."

On 24 October 1953 the company launched the ''Sunday Advertiser'' in direct competition to News Limited's ''The Mail'', but failed to outreach its rival, though no doubt affecting its profitability. It ceased publication five years or so later, after which the by then renamed ''Sunday Mail'' advertised itself as a joint publication of Advertiser Newspapers and News Ltd., and incorporated many of the ''Sunday Advertiser'' regular features. It had also introduced colour graphics on the comics page (rather primitive by today's standards), but this was dropped shortly after joint publication commenced. In addition, '' The Messenger'', published since 1951 was partially purchased in 1962, and fully owned by 1983. When Murdoch acquired ''The Herald and Weekly Times'' in 1987, he also acquired the remaining 48.7% share of ''The Advertiser''. He sold ''The News'' in 1987, and it was closed in 1992. Murdoch then changed the format of ''The Advertiser'' from a broadsheet to a tabloid in November 1997, and the

masthead Masthead may refer to: * Nameplate (publishing), the banner name on the front page of a newspaper or periodical (UK "masthead") * Masthead (American publishing), details of the owners, publisher, departments, officers, contributors and address d ...

and content

font In movable type, metal typesetting, a font is a particular #Characteristics, size, weight and style of a typeface. Each font is a matched set of type, with a piece (a "Sort (typesetting), sort") for each glyph. A typeface consists of a range of ...

and layout was modernised in September 2009.

Circulation

''The Advertiser'' is available for purchase throughout

and some towns and regions in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Victoria and the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Au ...

located near or adjacent to the South Australia state border such as

Broken Hill Broken Hill is an inland mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia. It is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Highway (B79), in the Barrier Range. I ...

Mildura Mildura is a regional city in north-west Victoria, Australia. Located on the Victorian side of the Murray River, Mildura had a population of 34,565 in 2021. When nearby Wentworth, Irymple, Nichols Point and Merbein are included, the area h ...

, Nhill and

Alice Springs Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Al ...

. According to ''The Advertisers website, the newspaper is read by over 580,000 people each weekday, and by more than 740,000 people each Saturday. Circulation figures reported in May 2016 by Roy Morgan Research showed a continuing decline in readership, of 324,000 on weekdays, and 371,000 on Saturdays. ''The Advertiser''s website, adelaidenow.com.au, was rated by third-party

web analytics Web analytics is the measurement, collection, analysis, and reporting of web data to understand and optimize web usage. Web analytics is not just a process for measuring web traffic but can be used as a tool for business and market research a ...

providers Alexa and SimilarWeb as, respectively, the 268th and 313rd most visited website in Australia, as of August 2015. SimilarWeb rates the site as the 29th most visited news website in Australia, attracting almost 1.8 million visitors per month. In 2015, along with other News Corp websites, ''The Advertiser''s website adopted a paywall with non-subscribers being locked out of "premium" content.Media Week: Jars, master media agency & paywalls
''InDaily'', 15 May 2015. Retrieved 25 September 2017.

Notable personnel

Personnel at ''The Advertiser'' include: * Sir John Langdon Bonython, editor * Sir John Lavington Bonython, management * Michael Atchison , cartoonist * Natalie von Bertouch * Nick Cater * Alfred Thomas Chandler * Annabel Crabb * Tanya Denver *

Sidney Downer Sidney Frederick Downer (15 September 1909 – 17 September 1969) was a South Australian journalist and sports writer, a member of the prominent Downer family, who was for three years a Japanese prisoner-of-war. History Sidney was born son of Jam ...

* Brady Haran * Andrew Kirkpatrick * Pat Oliphant * Tory Shepherd *

Frederick Samuel Wallis Frederick Samuel Wallis (22 November 1857 – 13 November 1939) was a trade unionist and politician in the state of South Australia. History Wallis was born at Macclesfield, South Australia, Macclesfield, a son of Richard Wallis (1826 – 21 D ...

Digitisation

The

National Library of Australia The National Library of Australia (NLA), formerly the Commonwealth National Library and Commonwealth Parliament Library, is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the ''National Library Act 1960'' for "mainta ...

has digitised, by OCR, photographically archived copies of the following newspapers, accessible through

Trove Trove is an Australian online library database owned by the National Library of Australia in which it holds partnerships with source providers National and State Libraries Australia, an aggregator and service which includes full text documen ...

: *''The South Australian Advertiser'' – 12 July 1858 Vol. I No. 1 t
30 March 1889 (Vol XXXXI No. 9,500)
*''The Adelaide Express'' 2 December 1863 (Vol 1. No. 3) t
29 December 1866 (Vol. IV No. 923)
*''Express and Telegraph'' from 2 January 1867 (Vol. IV, No. 925) t
3 November 1922 (Vol LIX No. 17,780)
*''The Advertiser'' – 1 April 1889 (Vol. XXXI No. 9,501) t
20 February 1931 (LXXIII No. 22,579)
*''The Advertiser and The Register'' – *''The Advertiser'' – 1 October 1931 (Vol. LXXIV No. 22,769) t
31 December 1954 (Vol. 97 No. 30,019)

References

External links

Official site
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Advertiser, The Publications established in 1858 News Corp Australia 1858 establishments in Australia Newspapers published in Adelaide Daily newspapers published in Australia Newspapers on Trove