The ''Ashburton Guardian'' is a tri-weekly newspaper published in

Ashburton, New Zealand Ashburton ( mi, Hakatere) is a large town in the Canterbury Region, on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. The town is the seat of the Ashburton District. It is south west of Christchurch and is sometimes regarded as a satell ...

according to the Audit Bureau of Circulation in New Zealand it has a readership of approximately 11,000 and a circulation of 5,554. It was founded in 1879 and has since 1900 been owned by the Bell family

History

According to the Newspaper Publishers Association of New Zealand the ''Ashburton Guardian'' was first published in September 1879. Almost 11,000 editions of the ''Ashburton Guardian'' have been digitised and are available through PapersPast, a service offered by the

National Library A national library is a library established by a government as a country's preeminent repository of information. Unlike public libraries, these rarely allow citizens to borrow books. Often, they include numerous rare, valuable, or significant wo ...

; those editions cover the period from 1 January 1887 to 31 December 1921. In 2000, the ''Ashburton Guardian'' was the first newspaper in New Zealand to go to a

compact Compact as used in politics may refer broadly to a pact or treaty; in more specific cases it may refer to: * Interstate compact * Blood compact, an ancient ritual of the Philippines * Compact government, a type of colonial rule utilized in British ...

format; this was done for the Saturday edition only. In July 2013, the weekday editions also went from broadsheet to compact. The newspaper was a member of the now defunct

New Zealand Press Association The New Zealand Press Association (NZPA) was a news agency that existed from 1879 to 2011 and provided national and international news to the media of New Zealand. The largest news agency in the country, it was founded as the United Press Associa ...

Ownership

Charles Dixon and Horace Weeks started the newspaper to oppose

Joseph Ivess Joseph Ivess (8 February 1844 – 4 September 1919) was a member of the New Zealand House of Representatives. He had an association with a large number of newspapers. Early life and Australia Joseph Ivess was born in Askeaton, County Limerick ...

, who had started the ''Evening News'' earlier in 1879 in support of his

mayoralty In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

campaign. In the following year, they sold the newspaper to Edward George Wright and

Hugo Friedlander Hugo Friedlander (born Friedländer, January 1850 – 1 October 1928) was a New Zealand businessman, local politician, and horse breeder from Ashburton. Friedlander was born in a Jewish family in Kolmar, in the Prussian Province of Pose ...

, the latter of whom had beaten Ivess in the mayoral election. In 1885, they sold the ''Guardian'' to William Steward, who himself sold to Robert Bell in 1900. As at 2015, the ''Ashburton Guardian'' is still owned by the Bell family, and that makes it one of the few independently-owned daily newspapers in New Zealand.

References

{{Use dmy dates, date=April 2017 Newspapers published in New Zealand Mass media in Ashburton, New Zealand Newspapers established in 1879 1879 establishments in New Zealand