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''The Courier-Mail'' is an Australian newspaper published in
Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...
. Owned by
News Corp Australia 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 3,00 ...
, it is published daily from Monday to Saturday in tabloid format. Its editorial offices are located at
Bowen Hills Bowen Hills is an inner north-eastern suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the Bowen Hills had a population of 3,226 people. Geography Bowen Hills is by road from the Brisbane CBD. Mayne is a neighbourhood within the s ...
, in Brisbane's inner northern suburbs, and it is printed at
Murarrie Murarrie (formerly Mooraree) is an eastern riverside Suburbs and localities (Australia), suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Murarrie had a population of 4,303 people. Queensport is a neighbourhood within Murarrie (). ...
, in Brisbane's eastern suburbs. It is available for purchase throughout
Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...
, most regions of Northern
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 ...
and parts of the
Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...
.


History

The history of ''The Courier-Mail'' is through four mastheads. The ''
Moreton Bay Courier Moreton may refer to: People Given name * Moreton John Wheatley (1837–1916), British Army officer and Bailiff of the Royal Parks Surname * Alice Bertha Moreton (1901–1977), English sculptor, draughtsman and artist * Andrew Moreton, a ...
'' later became '' The Courier'', then the '' Brisbane Courier'' and, since a merger with the Daily Mail in 1933, ''The Courier-Mail''. The ''Moreton Bay Courier'' was established as a weekly paper in June 1846. Issue frequency increased steadily to bi-weekly in January 1858, tri-weekly in December 1859, then daily under the editorship of
Theophilus Parsons Pugh Theophilus Parsons Pugh (1831–1896) was an Australian journalist, newspaper editor, politician, publisher and public servant, as well as the editor-in-chief of the Moreton Bay Courier, which he in 1861 renamed to ''The Courier'', renamed aga ...
from 14 May 1861. The recognised founder and first editor was
Arthur Sidney Lyon Arthur Sidney Lyon (1817–1861), was a journalist and newspaper proprietor in Queensland, Australia. He was known as "the father of the press in colonial Queensland". He was the founder of the '' Moreton Bay Courier'' (later '' Brisbane Courier'' ...
(1817–1861) who was assisted by its printer, James Swan (1811–1891), the later
mayor of Brisbane This is a list of the Mayors and Lord Mayors of the City of Brisbane, a local government area of Queensland, Australia. The current Lord Mayor of Brisbane is Adrian Schrinner. Mayors of the Brisbane Municipal Council (1859–1903) The Town ...
and member of
Queensland Legislative Council The Queensland Legislative Council was the upper house of the parliament in the Australian state of Queensland. It was a fully nominated body which first took office on 1 May 1860. It was abolished by the Constitution Amendment Act 1921, which to ...
. Lyon, also referred to as the "father of the Press" in the colony of Queensland, had previously served as a writer and journalist in Melbourne, and later moved on to found and edit journals such as ''Moreton Bay Free Press'', ''
North Australian The ''North Australian, Ipswich and General Advertiser'' was the first newspaper published in Ipswich, Queensland, Australia. It was commonly called the ''North Australian'' as those words appeared most prominently on its masthead. History ...
'' and ''
Darling Downs Gazette The ''Darling Downs Gazette'' was a newspaper published from 1848 to 1922 in Drayton and Toowoomba in Queensland, Australia. History ''The Darling Downs Gazette and General Advertiser'' was founded in 1858 by Arthur Sidney Lyon. The first issu ...
''. Lyon was encouraged to emigrate by Rev. Dr. John Dunmore Lang and arrived in
Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...
from Sydney in early 1846 to establish a newspaper. He persuaded James Swan, a printer of Lang's Sydney newspaper ''
The Colonialist John Dunmore Lang (25 August 1799 – 8 August 1878) was a Scottish-born Australian Presbyterian minister, writer, historian, politician and activist. He was the first prominent advocate of an independent Australian nation and of Australian re ...
'' to join him. Lyon and Swan established themselves on the corner of Queen Street and Albert Street, Brisbane, in a garret of a building later known as the North Star Hotel. The first issue of the ''Moreton Bay Courier'', consisting of 4 pages, appeared weekly on Saturday 20 June 1846, with Lyon as editor and Swan as publisher. After some 18 months, Lyon and Swan disagreed on many aspects of editorial policy, including transportation of convicts and
squatting Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there ...
. Lyon took over sole control in late 1847, but had money problems, and gave sole control to Swan. Swan sold out to
Thomas Blacket Stephens Thomas Blacket Stephens (5 January 1819 – 26 August 1877) was a wealthy Brisbane businessman and newspaper proprietor who also served as an alderman and mayor of Brisbane Municipal Council,Brisbane City Council Archives a Member of the Legis ...
in about November 1859.''The Moreton Bay Courier'' became ''The Courier'', and then the ''Brisbane Courier'' in 1864. In June–July 1868, Stephens floated a new company, and transferred the plant and copyright of the ''Brisbane Courier'' to "The Brisbane Newspaper Company". He was the managing director until retired in November 1873, when the paper was auctioned. The Journal was, from November 1873 to December 1880, managed by one of the new part owners, the Tasmanian-born former public servant
Gresley Lukin Gresley Lukin (1840–1916) was an Australian public servant, newspaper owner, company manager and newspaper editor, most prominently the part-proprietor of the Brisbane Newspaper Company (publisher of the Brisbane Courier and its weekly The Q ...
(1840–1916). Although called 'managing editor', actual writing and editing was by William Augustine O'Carroll (1831–1885). Most prominent of the various editors and sub-editors of the Queenslander 'literary staff' were
William Henry Traill William Henry Traill (7 May 1842 – 21 May 1902) was an Australian journalist and politician, commonly referred to as W. H. Traill. He was an early editor and for a period the principal proprietor of '' The Bulletin'' in Sydney.''Sydney Morning ...
(1842–1902), later NSW politician and editor of the famed Sydney journal ' The Bulletin', and Carl Adolph Feilberg (1844–1887), who was Danish born but from the age of six educated in England and later in France. Carl Feilberg followed William Henry Trail in the role of political commentator and the de facto editor of the ''Queenslander'' to January 1881. He succeeded William O'Carroll as Courier editor-in-chief from September 1883 to his death in October 1887. Lukin's roles as part owner-editor changed on 21 December 1880.
Charles Hardie Buzacott Charles Hardie Buzacott (1 August 1835 – 19 July 1918) was an Australian journalist, publisher and politician. Early life Buzacott was born in Torrington, Devonshire, England, son of James Buzacott and his wife Ann, ''née'' Hitchcock. He m ...
(1835–1918), former 'Postmaster General' in the first McIlwraith government, had been a staff journalist. John James Knight (1863–1927) was editor-in-chief of the ''Brisbane Courier'' 1906–16, later managing director, then chairman of all the company's publications. The first edition of ''The Courier-Mail'' was published on 28 August 1933, after
Keith Murdoch Sir Keith Arthur Murdoch (12 August 1885 – 4 October 1952) was an Australian journalist, businessman and the father of Rupert Murdoch, the current Executive chairman for News Corporation and the chairman of Fox Corporation. Early life Murdoc ...
's
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 ba ...
acquired and merged the ''Brisbane Courier'' and the ''
Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publish ...
'' (first published on 3 October 1903). In 1987,
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 ...
's
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 ...
acquired newspaper control, and outstanding shares of Queensland Newspapers Pty Ltd. ''The Courier-Mail'' was inducted into the
Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame In 2009 State Library of Queensland, the Queensland Library Foundation and the QUT Business School The QUT Business School is one of six faculties at the Queensland University of Technology. It is home to the QUT Graduate School of Business, a ...
in 2015.


Political position

''The Courier-Mail'' is a right leaning newspaper with four editorial endorsements for the Coalition to one for
Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the la ...
in the period 1996–2007. ''The Courier-Mail'' generally supports
free market In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or any ot ...
economic policies and the process of globalisation. It supported the
2003 invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...
.


Circulation and readership

''The Courier-Mail'' has the fourth-highest circulation of any daily newspaper in Australia. Its average Monday-Friday net paid print sales were 172,801 between January and March 2013, having fallen 8.0 per cent compared to the previous year. Its average Saturday net paid print sales were 228,650 between January and March 2013, down 10.5 per cent compared to the previous year. The paper's Monday-Friday readership was 488,000 in March 2013, having fallen 11.6 per cent compared to the previous year. Its Saturday readership was 616,000 in March 2013, down 13.8 per cent compared to the previous year. Around three-quarters of the paper's readership is located in the Brisbane
metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region that consists of a densely populated urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories sharing industries, commercial areas, transport network, infrastructures and housing. A metro area usually com ...
. Although often claimed to be Brisbane's only daily newspaper since the demise of
Queensland Newspapers Queensland Newspapers is the Queensland, Australia-based subsidiary of News Corporation. Queensland Newspapers is responsible for publishing ''The Courier-Mail ''The Courier-Mail'' is an Australian newspaper published in Brisbane. Owned by New ...
' own afternoon newspaper ''
The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...
'' in 1988, it arguably has had two competitors since 2007.
News Corp News Corporation, stylized as News Corp, is an American mass media and publishing company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The second incarnation of the News Corporation (1980–2013), original News Corporation, it was formed ...
itself published '' mX'', a free afternoon newspaper, since 2007, but ''mX'' had a relatively low news content, and was discontinued in mid 2015.
Fairfax Media Fairfax Media was a media company in Australia and New Zealand, with investments in newspaper, magazines, radio and digital properties. The company was founded by John Fairfax as John Fairfax and Sons, who purchased ''The Sydney Morning Herald' ...
has published the online only ''
Brisbane Times Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...
'' since 2007. According to 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 and ...
providers
Alexa Alexa may refer to: Technology *Amazon Alexa, a virtual assistant developed by Amazon * Alexa Internet, a defunct website ranking and traffic analysis service * Arri Alexa, a digital motion picture camera People * Alexa (name), a given name a ...
and SimilarWeb, Courier-Mail's website is the 141st and 273rd most visited in Australia respectively, as of August 2015. At the same time, SimilarWeb rated the site as the 25th most visited news website in Australia, attracting almost 2.6 million visitors per month.


Editors

The current editor is Chris Jones. Its editorial
cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...
is
Sean Leahy Sean Leahy (born 1958) is an Australian cartoonist working for the '' Courier Mail'' in Brisbane, Australia. He draws political cartoons for the paper, and also his own comic strip, ''Beyond the Black Stump'', which is distributed in Australia. ...
. For thirty years, the paper's senior
rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...
football journalist was former Australian vice-captain
Jack Reardon Jack Reardon (1914-1991) was an Australian rugby league footballer who played in the 1930s and 1940s and who later became a sports journalist. An Australian international and both a New South Wales and Queensland representative , he played club ...
. Sports editor at ''The Courier Mail'', Tom Linneth became the youngest editor in Australia in 1960 at the age of 29. He worked at ''The Courier Mail'' between about 1948 to 1974 and again worked there as the sports editor between about 1982 until he retired in 1996. * Jun 1846 – Dec 1847: Arthur Sidney Lyon (first editor) * Dec 1847 – c. 1850: James Swan * early to mid-1850s: William Wilks * 1859: Richard Belford (former editor of Ballarat Star and later editor of the North Australian) * 1859–1863:
Theophilus Parsons Pugh Theophilus Parsons Pugh (1831–1896) was an Australian journalist, newspaper editor, politician, publisher and public servant, as well as the editor-in-chief of the Moreton Bay Courier, which he in 1861 renamed to ''The Courier'', renamed aga ...
(also the creator and publisher of ''Pugh's Almanac'') * 1864–1866: David Frederick Tudor Jones * 1867–c. 1869: William O'Carroll * 1869–1873: George Hall ("the Bohemian") * 1873–1875:
Gresley Lukin Gresley Lukin (1840–1916) was an Australian public servant, newspaper owner, company manager and newspaper editor, most prominently the part-proprietor of the Brisbane Newspaper Company (publisher of the Brisbane Courier and its weekly The Q ...
(assisted by William O'Carroll) * 1875 – Dec 1880: William O'Carroll (as the de facto editor, officially edited by the managing editor Gresley Lukin) * Jan 1881– Sep 1883: William O'Carroll (as the de facto editor, although officially edited by the managing editor
Charles Hardie Buzacott Charles Hardie Buzacott (1 August 1835 – 19 July 1918) was an Australian journalist, publisher and politician. Early life Buzacott was born in Torrington, Devonshire, England, son of James Buzacott and his wife Ann, ''née'' Hitchcock. He m ...
) * Sep 1883 – Oct 1887: Carl Adolph Feilberg * Oct 1887 – Dec 1887: Edmund John T Barton (later author of the ''Jubilee History of Queensland'') * Jan 1888 – Jun 1891: William Kinnaird Rose * Jan 1894 – Nov 1898:
Frederick William Ward Frederick William Ward (5 April 1847 – 1 July 1934) was an Australian journalist, newspaper editor and Methodist minister. Ward was born in New Zealand the fourth son of the Rev. Robert Ward, a Primitive Methodist clergyman and was sent to Bris ...
* Dec 1898 – Apr 1903:
Charles Brunsdon Fletcher Charles Brunsdon Fletcher (5 August 1859 – 17 December 1946) was an English-born Australian surveyor and journalist who served as the editor of the '' Sydney Morning Herald'' for twenty years. Birth and education Fletcher was the third o ...
(son-in-law of Sir Arthur Rutledge) * April 1903 – 1906: Edmund John T Barton (later author of the ''Jubilee History of Queensland'') * 1906 – Jun 1916: John James Knight * Jun 1916 – Jun 1919: John MacGregor * Jun 1919 – 1932?: R. Sanderson Taylor * 1932 – Dec 1933: Firman McKinnon * Jan 1934 – Sep 1936: Reginald Tingey Foster (also Editor-in-Chief The Courier-Mail, The Sunday Mail, The Queenslander) * late 1936 – 1938: Charles E Sligo (news editor, acting editor) * Apr 1938 – late 1941: Jack C Waters (also Editor-in-Chief The Courier-Mail, The Sunday Mail, The Queenslander (to 1939)) * 1942 – 1968: Theodor Charles Bray (later Sir Theodor) (after 1953 also Editor-in-Chief The Courier-Mail, The Sunday Mail) * 1968 – 1969: Alan F Cummins * 1969 – 1979: John R Atherton * 1979 – 1984: Kevin J Kavanagh * Mar 1984 – Mar 1987: David C Smith (Feb 1986 – Mar 1987 also Editor-in-Chief The Courier-Mail, The Sunday Mail) * Mar 1987 – Apr 1991: Greg Chamberlin * Mar 1987 – Apr 1991: Ron Richards (managing editor) * Apr 1991 – Apr 1995: Jack Lunn (Editor-in-Chief The Courier-Mail, The Sunday Mail) * Apr 1991 – Apr 1995: Des Houghton * Apr 1995 – Jun 2002: Chris Mitchell (also Editor-in-Chief The Courier-Mail, The Sunday Mail) * Jun 2002 – Mar 2010: David Fagan (Mar 2010 – Editor-in-Chief The Courier-Mail, The Sunday Mail) * Mar 2010 – June 2013: Michael Crutcher * June 2013 – 2016: Chris Dore * 2016-2017: Lachlan Heywood * 2017-2019: Sam Weir * 2020-: Chris Jones


Change to tabloid

From its inception until March 2006 ''The Courier-Mail'' was a broadsheet newspaper. On 14 December 2005 it was announced that the paper would change to a tabloid sometime in early 2006, however the term "tabloid" was not used in favour of the term "compact". This linguistic choice was probably related to widespread public view that many tabloids, including those published by
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 ...
, were low quality publications (see tabloid for discussion of this size and quality issue). Much emphasis was made that it was merely the paper size that was changing and not the journalistic quality. The last broadsheet edition was published on Saturday 11 March 2006, and the first tabloid edition was published on Monday 13 March 2006. On the same day, the paper's website was revamped and expanded. The change to a tabloid format brought ''The Courier-Mail'' in line with all other
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 ...
Australian metropolitan daily newspapers. This followed the change to a tabloid format by '' The Advertiser'' of
Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
—another News Corporation newspaper—some years earlier. Despite the claims that there would be no loss of journalistic quality, ''The Courier-Mail'' in its "compact" format is not well regarded for its journalism, e.g. the 'Crikey' website described it as "one of the contestants in a close run field for worst paper in Australia". In August 2011, police and the parents of a murder victim criticised the paper for falsely accusing their son of a child sex crime. On 24 March 2014
Queensland Newspapers Queensland Newspapers is the Queensland, Australia-based subsidiary of News Corporation. Queensland Newspapers is responsible for publishing ''The Courier-Mail ''The Courier-Mail'' is an Australian newspaper published in Brisbane. Owned by New ...
, the News Corp Australia subsidiary responsible for publishing the ''Courier-Mail'', was found guilty by a District Court of breaching restrictions on publishing Family Court proceedings on four occasions and fined a total of $120,000. The breaches occurred in 2012 when the ''Courier-Mail'' published on its front page the names and photos of a mother and her children involved in a Family Court dispute. District Court Justice Terence Martin said: "It seems to me that the newspaper seized upon what it regarded as a sensational story, which would be attractive to readers, and put the story ahead of its legal obligations".


Criticism

''The Courier-Mail'' has been viewed as controversial on several occasions. One particular instance, on 7 October 2014, the paper published a transphobic headline related to the gruesome murder of Mayang Prasetyo. It also raised controversy for depicting Indonesian president Joko Widodo with a doctored photo of bloody hands to protest against the country's decision to execute two Australian convicted drug smugglers known as part of the Bali Nine.


Digitisation

Pre-1955 issues of the newspaper have been digitised as part of the Australian Newspapers Digitisation Program of 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 ...
.


See also

* '' The Sunday Mail'' *
List of newspapers in Australia This is a list of newspapers in Australia. For other older newspapers, see list of defunct newspapers of Australia. National In 1950, the number of national daily newspapers in Australia was 54 and it increased to 65 in 1965. Daily newspape ...


References


Further reading

* ''Brisbane Courier'' 29 January 1895, p2. "The Queenslander: New Series". * ''Brisbane Courier'' 20 June 1896, p7a–8c. Jubilee Issue 1846 To 1896. "Half-a-Century of News Paper Work. A Chequered Career. Genesis of a Daily Paper. The Early Press of Queensland". by J. J. Knight. * ''Brisbane Courier'' 22 June 1926 "Eightieth Birthday Number" * Browne, Reginald Spencer: ''A Journalist’s Memories'', Read Press, Brisbane 1927, 351 pages & index. * Browne, Reginald Spencer: article in the ''Brisbane Courier'' of 26 August 1933, page 14–15. "Courier" Editors. Fifty Years With Them. * Cryle, Denis: ''The Press In Colonial Queensland: A Social and Political History 1845–1875'', Brisbane 1995, 191 pages. * Davies, Alfred G.: "Queensland's Pioneer Journals and Journalists", ''Historical Society of Queensland Journal'' (''RHSQ'') vol 3, No 4, 1936–47, p265–283. * Ørsted-Jensen: Robert: ''The Right To Live – the Politics of Race and the Troubled Conscience of an Australian Journalist'' (yet unpublished manuscript)


External links

* * * * *
Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame - COURIER MAIL digital story
{{DEFAULTSORT:Courier-Mail, The Publications established in 1846 News Corp Australia Newspapers published in Brisbane Companies based in Brisbane 1846 establishments in Australia Pre-Separation Queensland Daily newspapers published in Australia Newspapers on Trove Conservative media