| Year | Date | Details |
|---|---|---|
| 1951 | 16 Aug | Australian Financial Review launched as a weekly newspaper. |
| 1952 | 8 Feb | First issue of Northern Territory News, Darwin, began as a weekly. |
| 1952 | 28 July | First use of colour news photography in Argus, Melbourne. Claimed to be first time that a newspaper anywhere in the world had produced an action news photograph in colour within hours of the event. |
| 1952 | 18 Aug | John Fairfax sells its interest in Woman’s Day and Home to The Herald and Weekly Times Ltd. |
| 1952 | 4-5 Oct | Death of Sir Keith Murdoch, managing director of the Herald and Weekly Times Ltd and father of Rupert Murdoch. |
| 1953 | 1 Jan | John Pringle appointed editor of the Sydney Morning Herald. |
| 1953 | 17 June | Kalgoorlie Miner is the last daily newspaper in Australia to make Page 1 its main news page. |
| 1953 | Aug | John Fairfax & Sons Pty Ltd acquires interest in Associated Newspapers Ltd (publishers of The Sun). |
| 1953 | Sept | Rupert Murdoch flies home to take up his small newspaper inheritance. |
| 1953 | 11 Oct | Sydney Sun-Herald results from merger of the broadsheet Sunday Herald and the tabloid Sunday Sun. |
| 1953 | 24 Oct | First issue of Sunday Advertiser, Adelaide. |
| 1955 | 11 July | First issue of Darling Downs Star, Toowoomba, a daily competing against the long-established Toowoomba Chronicle. |
| 1955 | 21-22 Dec | John Fairfax and Sons moves (from Hunter Street) into new buildings at Broadway, Sydney. |
| 1956 | 9 April | John Fairfax Ltd incorporated as a public company. |
| 1956 | 11 June | Canberra Times converts from broadsheet to tabloid format. |
| 1956 | 6 Sept | TCN Channel 9 (owned ultimately by Sir Frank Packer, proprietor of the Daily Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph and the Australian Women’s Weekly) begins television transmission in Sydney. |
| 1956 | 2 Dec | ATN Channel 7 (owned by John Fairfax) begins television transmission in Sydney. |
| 1957 | 19 Jan | Final issue of the Argus, Melbourne, published since 1846. Herald & Weekly Times Ltd plans to continue all the remaining activities of the Argus company by an allotment of £350,000 of shares. |
| 1957 | 9 Sept | Dubbo Liberal, New South Wales, becomes a daily. |
| 1957 | First use of tape to operate line-casting machines at Fairfax’s Broadway plant. | |
| 1958 | 23 May | Angus Maude appointed editor of Sydney Morning Herald. |
| 1958 | 20 Nov | Sydney’s Mirror group bought from Ezra Norton by O’Connell Pty Ltd, financed by John Fairfax. |
| 1959 | July | Toowoomba furniture retailer, J. Rowe Pty Ltd, takes over the Darling Downs Star. |
| 1959 | 10 Oct | First 80-page ordinary issue of the Sydney Morning Herald. |
| 1959 | 8 Nov | First issue of Newcastle’s Sunday Mirror; publishes four issues. |
| 1960 | Feb | Rupert Murdoch makes first move into Sydney, acquiring Cumberland Newspapers Pty Ltd, a chain of 24 suburban titles. |
| 1960 | In response to Murdoch’s purchase of Cumberland, John Fairfax and Consolidated Press establish Suburban Publications Pty Ltd. | |
| 1960 | 20 May | Rupert Murdoch buys Daily Mirror, Sydney, from O’Connell Pty Ltd (Fairfax). |
| 1960 | Sir Frank Packer’s Consolidated Press acquires the Maitland Mercury. |
| Year | Date | Details |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 4 Jan | W.O. Fairfax resigns from the chairmanship of John Fairfax Ltd. |
| 1961 | 11 March | W.O. Fairfax re-appointed chairman of John Fairfax Ltd. |
| 1961 | 30 Sept | John Fairfax acquires 45 per cent interest in Newcastle Newspapers Pty Ltd, publisher of Newcastle Morning Herald and Newcastle Sun. |
| 1961 | 24 Oct | The weekly Australian Financial Review becomes a bi-weekly. |
| 1963 | 1 April | Western Advocate, Bathurst, results from amalgamation of the Western Times and the National Advocate, both dailies. |
| 1963 | 21 Oct | Australian Financial Review becomes a daily. |
| 1964 | 10 Feb | Northern Territory News, Darwin, becomes a daily; published on weekday afternoons (see 1968 and 1991) |
| 1964 | 30 April | John Fairfax acquires Federal Capital Press of Australia Pty Ltd, publisher of Canberra Times. |
| 1964 | 1 July | Canberra Times converts from tabloid to broadsheet, shifting the printing to Fairfax's newly installed press at Fyshwick. |
| 1964 | 15 July | News Ltd launches the Australian. |
| 1966 | 13 Dec | John Fairfax acquires interest in David Syme & Co Ltd, publisher of the Age. |
| 1968 | 7 May | The Australian is now printed in Brisbane. |
| 1967 | First production computer installed at Broadway (Sydney) plant of the John Fairfax group. | |
| 1968/69 | The Maxwell Newton South Coast newspaper purchases begin, especially two at Nowra. | |
| 1968 | 15 April | Northern Territory News changes from afternoon to morning daily (see 1964 and 1991). |
| 1968 | mid | The Australian is now printed in Adelaide. |
| 1969 | 27 April | First issue of the Independent, a Perth Sunday newspaper; published to December 1970 under that title and then 1971-1986 as Sunday Independent. |
| 1969 | 1 Sept | Area News, Griffith, bi-weekly, and Riverina Advocate, Griffith, weekly, merge to become the Riverina Daily News (morning daily), the first NSW regional daily printed on a web offset press. |
| 1969 | Sept | John Fairfax acquires South Coast Times Pty Ltd, publisher of Illawarra Mercury, Wollongong. |
| 1969 | 30 Sept | David Syme launches evening daily, Newsday, in Melbourne to compete directly with the Herald. |
| 1969 | 12 Nov | Fairfax launches a daily afternoon paper in the national capital, the Canberra News. |
| 1969 | 23 Dec | Sir Warwick Fairfax is appointed a committee of one at John Fairfax, with all the administrative and management powers exercisable by the directors under the Articles of Association, subject to the overriding authority of the board. |
| 1970 | 14 Feb | First 128-page issue of the Sydney Morning Herald. |
| 1970 | 3 March | First issue of Southern Riverina News, Finley, NSW; results from merger of Finley Mail, Berrigan Advocate and Tocumwal Guardian. |
| 1970 | 3 May | David Syme’s Melbourne evening newspaper Newsday ceases publication after seven months; it cost Syme $3 million and 67 journalists their jobs. |
| 1970 | 1 July | G.E.W. Harriott is appointed editor of Sydney Morning Herald. |
| 1970 | 11 Sept | The John Fairfax group acquires 25 per cent of Land Newspaper Ltd. (forerunner of Rural Press Ltd). |
| 1969 | 14 Sept | First issue of Sunday Observer, published till 7 March 1971; succeeded by Melbourne Observer and later a new Sunday Observer. |
| 1970 | 11 Oct | First issue of Sunday Review, forerunner of the Review and Nation Review. |
| 1970 | 2 Dec | Final issue of the Independent, Perth Sunday newspaper under that title. Continues from 3 January 1971 as the Sunday Independent. |
| Year | Date | Details |
|---|---|---|
| 1971 | 3 Jan | First issue of Sunday Independent, Perth; continues the Independent. |
| 1971 | 18 Jan | Sydney Morning Herald leader page moves from Page 2 to 6. |
| 1971 | 6 Feb | Final issue of Riverina Daily News, Griffith, NSW, as a morning daily (estab. 1969). |
| 1971 | 7 Feb | Fairfax launches weekly National Times. |
| 1971 | 8 Feb | First issue of Riverina Daily News, Griffith, as an evening daily. |
| 1971 | 28 Feb | First issue of Sunday Australian. |
| 1971 | 21 March | First issue of Melbourne Observer, a weekly that later became the Sunday Observer. |
| 1971 | 2 July | Closure of Riverina Daily News (evening); reverts to tri-weekly issue as Area News. Mon/Wed/Fri. |
| 1971 | 9 July | Sunday Review ceases; becomes the Review from 16 July. |
| 1971 | 16 July | First issue of the Review, formerly the Sunday Review. |
| 1972 | 4 June | Sir Frank Packer sells the mastheads of the Daily and Sunday Telegraphs to Rupert Murdoch for $15 million. |
| 1972 | 4 June | Sunday Australian ceases; Rupert Murdoch incorporates it in his newly acquired Sunday Telegraph from 11 June. |
| 1972 | June | Fairfax increases holding in Syme to more than 50 per cent, making Syme a subsidiary but Fairfax/Syme partnership agreement remains. |
| 1972 | 3 July | John Fairfax increases its interest in David Syme (principally The Age, Melbourne) to more than 50 per cent. |
| 1972 | 3 July | News, Shepparton, Vic., becomes an afternoon daily, stepping up from tri-weekly issue. |
| 1972 | 29 July | First issue of Nation Review; formed by amalgamation of Nation and The Review. Published in Melbourne; later Sydney. |
| 1973 | Rupert Murdoch enters United States markets, buying San Antonio Express and News, Texas. | |
| 1973 | 12 Aug | First issue of Sunday Observer, Melbourne, formerly the Melbourne Observer. |
| 1973 | 9 Sept | First issue of Melbourne Sunday Press, later the Sunday Press. |
| 1973 | 10 Oct | First issue of Independent Sun, daily, Perth, published by Sunday Independent; ceased 8 November 1973 . |
| 1974 | 1 May | Death of Sir Frank Packer, former owner of the Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph, Sydney. |
| 1973 | 16-22 Oct | First issue of Living Daylights, weekly; ceased April 1974; incorporated in Nation Review. |
| 1974 | 3 May | Nation Review incorporates the Living Daylights. |
| 1974 | 12 May | Sunday Press is new title for former Melbourne Sunday Press, which appeared until 5 May 1974. |
| 1974 | 19 July | John Fairfax group closes the evening Canberra News (estab. 1969). |
| 1974 | 10 Sept | Central Coast Express, Gosford, becomes a daily, issued Tuesday to Saturday. |
| 1974 | 27 Nov | Barrier Miner, published daily since 1888, ceases publication. |
| 1975 | 3 Feb | Northern Territory News changes to afternoon (daily) publication. |
| 1975 | 8 Dec | Journalists employed by Rupert Murdoch’s News Ltd in Sydney strike for 24 hours in protest at a “very deliberate and blatant bias” in the presentation of news during the election campaign following the dismissal of the Whitlam government. |
| 1976 | 1 July | The Australian Press Council is established. Retired High Court judge Sir Frank Kitto is the first chair. |
| 1977 | 1 March | James Fairfax succeeds his father, Sir Warwick Fairfax, as chairman of the John Fairfax group. |
| 1977 | 2-3 July | First issue of Weekend Australian, a distinctively titled weekend edition of the weekday Australian. |
| 1977 | 3 Aug | Mr Justice Cahill’s judgment is handed down on demarcation of visual display terminals. |
| 1977 | 17 Dec | Final issue of Central Coast Express, Gosford, NSW, as a daily. |
| 1978 | 7 April | John Fairfax acquires full ownership of Newcastle Newspapers Pty Ltd. |
| 1978 | 28 May | First Sunday issue of the Canberra Times. |
| 1978 | 22 June | Closure of Nation Review under Gordon Barton’s ownership. |
| 1979 | 7 Oct | Final issue of Sunday, formerly Sunday Mirror (and Truth). |
| 1979 | 10 Oct | First issue of Newcastle Star as free weekly; established by Michael Wansey, former part-proprietor of Newcastle Morning Herald and Sun. |
| 1979 | 11 Oct | Nation Review ceases publication, its circulation having dipped to 15,000 compared with 54,000 in 1973. Resumed publication in 1980 in magazine format, eventually ceasing September 1981. |
| 1979 | 19 Nov | Final commitment by Australian Newsprint Mills to build a newsprint mill at Albury. |
| 1979 | Nov | Rupert Murdoch makes a $125 million takeover bid for the Herald & Weekly Times Ltd, but withdraws with a profit after John Fairfax takes a 14.9 per cent stake in HWT for $50 million. |
| 1980 | 16 April | First issue of Young Guardian, NSW. |
| 1980 | 6 June | First issue of Newcastle Clarion, published during national journalists’ strike. |
| 1980 | 4 July | Closure of afternoon daily Newcastle Sun. |
| 1980 | 7 July | First issue of Sunshine Coast Daily, Maroochydore, Qld. |
| 1980 | 8 Nov | First issue of Western Mail, Perth, a Sunday paper. |
| Year | Date | Details |
|---|---|---|
| 1981 | 1 Jan | First issue of Times Regional Newspaper, Deniliquin, NSW. |
| 1981 | 24 Feb | First issue of Tamworth Times; weekly. |
| 1981 | Sept | First issue of Newcastle Post – after the Newcastle Herald acquired a 49pc interest in Lake Macquarie Post, a free weekly. |
| 1980 | 6 Oct | The 104-year-old title, the Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, is shortened to the Newcastle Herald. |
| 1982 | Jan | Maryborough Chronicle, Maryborough, becomes the Maryborough-Hervey Bay Chronicle. |
| 1982 | 2 Aug | First issue of B First issue of the Daily Sun, launched by Rupert Murdoch in direct competition with the morning Courier-Mail. |
| 1984 | 27 Jan | News Ltd. takes over the North Queensland Newspaper Co. Ltd (flagship: Townsville Bulletin). |
| 1984 | 9 May | First issue of the Northern Leader, Bowen. Tri-weekly. Founder: Asher Joel Media group. |
| 1984 | 24 Sept | Daily Liberal, Dubbo, shifts from evening to morning publication. |
| 1984 | 6 Oct | First issue of Good Weekend, Australia's first newspaper colour magazine insert; inserted initially in the Saturday issue of the Sydney Morning Herald, it became an insert in the Melbourne Age, too, 11 months later. |
| 1985 | 14 Feb | Bombala Times (NSW) is the last Australian newspaper to make Page 1 its main news page. |
| 1985 | 31 May | Final issue of Northern Leader, Bowen. Survived 13 months. |
| 1986 | 1 Jan | News Ltd., via North Queensland Newspaper Co., takes over Bowen Independent from Darwen family. |
| 1986 | 24-25 May | Final issue of Sunday Independent in Perth. |
| 1986 | 1 July | Cairns Post converts from broadsheet to tabloid. |
| 1986 | 30 Sept | Lithgow Mercury ceases daily issue and becomes a tri-weekly from the first issue in October. |
| 1986 | 3 Dec | Rupert Murdoch launches takeover bid for Herald & Weekly Times Ltd. |
| 1986 | 20 Dec | The Herald, Melbourne, publishes its final Saturday issue (it was Australia’s last Saturday evening paper). |
| 1987 | 14 Jan | Death of Sir Warwick Fairfax, former chair of John Fairfax group. |
| 1987 | 6 Feb | Rupert Murdoch wins fight to take over Herald & Weekly Times Ltd. |
| 1987 | 24 April | Canberra Times' new editorial and office complex at Fyshwick officially opened after move from Braddon site occupied for 60 years. |
| 1987 | 6 July | First issue of Business Daily, weekly national business newspaper. |
| 1987 | 7 Aug | Northern Star Holdings announces it will sell titles of Brisbane Daily Sun and Sunday Sun and Adelaide News to the managements in each city, who will buy with help from Westfield, Northern Star’s parent. News Corporation will still print and distribute its competitor. |
| 1987 | 18 Aug | Business Daily closes. |
| 1987 | 31 Aug | Warwick Fairfax, 26-year-old son of Sir Warwick and Lady Mary, launches takeover bid for Fairfax media empire. |
| 1987 | Sept | Kerry Packer buys Canberra Times from Fairfax. |
| 1987 | 12 Oct | Goulburn Evening Post shifts from evening to morning publication and drops Evening from title. |
| 1987 | 1 Nov | APN buys Chinchilla News, Qld, from David and Dorothy Fuller. |
| 1987 | 7 Dec | Warwick Fairfax jun. formally takes over as proprietor of Fairfax. Chairman James Fairfax, deputy chairman John B. Fairfax and rest of board resign. |
| 1988 | 2 Jan | Final issue of Perth’s Western Mail, a Sunday paper. Losses over seven years estimated at $50 million. |
| 1988 | 5 Feb | Final issue of the Brisbane Telegraph (estab. 1872). |
| 1988 | 15 Feb | Brisbane Daily Sun shifts to afternoon slot vacated by Telegraph on 5 February; changes title to Sun. |
| 1988 | 13 Mar | Final issue of Times on Sunday, formerly National Times (estab. 1971). |
| 1988 | 14 Mar | Final issue of Sydney’s Sun (estab. 1910). |
| 1988 | 26 July | O’Reilly family trust takes over Provincial Newspapers (Qld) Ltd. |
| 1988 | 13 Aug | Haswell Pty Ltd’s takeover offer for Provincial Newspapers (Qld) Ltd expires. |
| 1988 | 8 Sept | Mornington Mail, Vic., established. |
| 1988 | 2 Nov | Provincial Newspapers (Qld) Ltd becomes Australian Provincial Newspapers Ltd (APN). |
| 1989 | 3 Mar | Haswell sacks senior Provincial Newspapers (Qld) Ltd staff from pre-takeover days; the Irish are firmly in control of APN. |
| 1989 | 5 June | Maitland Mercury, NSW, shifts from afternoon to morning daily publication. |
| 1989 | 11 June | Final issue of Sunday Observer, Melbourne. |
| 1989 | 3 July | Kerry Stokes buys Canberra Times from Kerry Packer. |
| 1989 | 13 Aug | Closure of Melbourne Sunday Press (joint publication of Herald & Weekly Times and David Syme & Co). |
| 1989 | 20 Aug | First editions of Melbourne Sunday Herald, Sunday Sun News-Pictorial and Sunday Age. |
| 1990 | 6 Aug | Shepparton News switches to morning issue after publishing as an afternoon daily since 3 July 1972; the last of Australia’s provincial afternoon dailies. |
| 1990 | 11 Sept | Closure of Perth Daily News (estab. 1882). |
| 1990 | 5 Oct | Closure of Sydney’s Daily Telegraph (estab. 1879) and Daily Mirror (1941), and Melbourne Sun News-Pictorial (1922) and Herald (1840). |
| 1990 | 8 Oct | Birth of “24-hour” newspapers to replace the above: Sydney Daily Telegraph-Mirror and Melbourne Herald-Sun. |
| 1991 | Protracted battle throughout the year for the John Fairfax newspaper empire, which was in receivership. | |
| 1991 | 31 Mar | Closure of the Melbourne Sunday Herald (estab. 1989) and Sunday Sun News-Pictorial (1989); replaced by Sunday Herald Sun. |
| 1991 | 29 July | Northern Territory News shifts from afternoon to morning daily issue. |
| 1991 | 10 Dec | Closure of the Brisbane Sun (afternooner since February 1988, morning 1982-1988). |
| 1991 | 15 Dec | Conrad Black’s Tourang wins control of Fairfax empire. |
| 1992 | 25 Mar | Release of News & Fair Facts, report of the House of Representatives Select Committee on the Print Media. |
| 1992 | 27 Mar | Closure of the News, Adelaide (estab. 1923) last afternoon newspaper in Australia. |
| 1992 | 29 Mar | Brisbane Sunday Mail goes tabloid. |
| 1992 | 14 April | Closure of Brisbane Sunday Sun announced. Sunday Telegraph and Sun-Herald commence publishing south-east Queensland editions. |
| 1992 | 14 June | First issue of Sunday, launched by the APN-owned Sunshine Newspaper Company daily. |
| 1993 | 15 Feb | Hobart Mercury converts from broadsheet to tabloid format. |
| 1993 | 9 Oct | First edition of Brisbane Weekend Times (80c). Proprietor Michael Hawke sold the (free) City News to Rupert Murdoch reportedly for $1.5 million. |
| 1993 | 20 Nov | Brisbane Weekend Times ceases. |
| 1993 | 22 Dec | APN takes over Peter Isaacson Publications, Melbourne, publisher of more than 40 titles including the Daily Commercial News. |
| 1994 | 8 May | Closure of south-east Queensland edition of Sunday Telegraph. |
| 1995 | July | Closure of Sydney News and Gold Coast News, both weekly lifestyle and real-estate colour magazines. |
| 1994 | 15 May | Closure of south-east Queensland edition of Sun-Herald. |
| 1995 | 11 Dec | Rural Press pays $68.9 million to acquire the Bathurst Western Advocate, Orange Central Western Daily, Dubbo Daily Liberal, Goulburn Post and other Macquarie Publications newspaper properties. |
| 1996 | 2 Jan | Sydney Daily Telegraph-Mirror reverts to title of Daily Telegraph. |
| 1996 | 4 Nov | Goulburn Post, a daily since 1927, reverts to tri-weekly issue. |
| 1997 | 14 Mar | First issue of national weekly, the Republican. |
| 1997 | 29 June | Sunday Canberra Times renamed Sunday Times. |
| 1997 | 16 Aug | First issue of the Good Weekend (Saturday Sydney Morning Herald and Age insert) in enlarged format. |
| 1997 | 29 Aug | Closure of the Republican. |
| 1997 | 6 Sept | First Saturday edition of Australian Financial Review. |
| 1997 | 14 Sept | Introduction of Sunday magazine into Sunday Telegraph and Sunday Herald-Sun and Sunday Life! Magazine into Sun-Herald and Sunday Age. |
| 1997 | 27 Oct | Townsville Bulletin’s new printing plant inaugurated and changes from broadsheet to tabloid. |
| 1997 | 3 Nov | Adelaide Advertiser changes from broadsheet to tabloid. |
| 1998 | 10-13 April | West Australian shifts headquarters from Forrest Centre, St George’s terrace, in Perth’s CBD, to newly built premises at Herdsman Lake, 8km to the north. The paper had been at Forrest Centre since 1987. |
| 1998 | 27 April | Redesign of Australian; price reduced in Victoria to 40c and increased elsewhere by 10c to $1; page of local news inserted in Melbourne edition. |
| 1998 | 29 June | Bendigo Advertiser changes from broadsheet to tabloid. |
| 1998 | 27 July | Newcastle Herald changes from broadsheet to tabloid. |
| 1998 | 2 Sept | Barossa & Light Herald, Tanunda, South Australia, becomes a free paper. |
| 1998 | 23 Sept | Rural Press acquires Canberra Times from Kerry Stokes for $160 million. |
| 1998 | 1 Nov | Newcastle Herald’s new printing plant at Beresfield is inaugurated. |
| 1999 | 25 Mar | Inaugural weekly “Media” liftout section appears in the Australian. |
| 1999 | 21 June | Border Mail, formerly based at Albury, NSW, opens for business at Wodonga, Vic., operating from new printing, editorial and business premises. |
| 1999 | 28 June | Fairfax announces $220 million new printing plant for Age and Financial Review to be built at Tullamarine, northwest Melbourne to come on line in 2001. |
| 1999 | 30 June | The 111-year Johnston dynasty ends at Riverine Grazier, Hay, NSW, with sale by the widowed Isabel Johnston before her second marriage. |
| 1999 | July | News Ltd’s new Perth printing plant inaugurated, completing replacement of News’ printing plants in all State capitals; inauguration of full colour of Perth Sunday Times (25 July); inauguration of full colour of Perth edition of the Australian (completing colour printing in all editions) and page of local news in Perth edition. |
| 1999 | 5 Aug | Printing of Wollongong Illawarra Mercury transferred to Fairfax plant at Chullora, Sydney. |
| 1999 | 6 Aug | APN News & Media Ltd acquires Gympie Times from Rural Press Ltd. |
| 1999 | Oct | First issue of Australian Newspaper History Group Newsletter appears (No. 35 was December 2005). |
| 1999 | 1 Nov | Commencement of separate rural and national editions of the Age, with marketing of the national edition in Adelaide (sale at Victorian price of $1, and home delivery). |
| 1999 | 8 Dec | David Syme & Co announce company name change to The Age Co. |
| 1999 | 12 Dec | The longest-serving editor of an Australian metropolitan daily, Paul Murray of the West Australian, announces his resignation after ten years. |
| 2000 | 24 Jan | Sydney Daily Telegraph introduces layout changes. |
| 2000 | 31 Jan | Perth West Australian goes online (www.thewest.com.au), the last major metropolitan paper to take that action. |
| 2000 | 22 Feb | Formal commencement of work on Fairfax’s new printing plant in Melbourne. |
| 2000 | 24 Mar | Fairfax announces $70 million expansion for its Chullora printing plant in Sydney’s south-west. |
| 2000 | 4 April | Wilkie Watson family completes 100 years as owners of the Tumut & Adelong Times, New South Wales. |
| 2000 | 7 April | Brian Rogers, news director of Channel Nine, Perth, is appointed editor of West Australian, replacing Paul Murray who joined Radio 6PR. |
| 2000 | 20 April | The Eye ceases publication (Vol 2, No. 7). It had appeared fortnightly since October 1999. |
| 2000 | 7 May | The Canberra Times’s Sunday edition, the Sunday Times, becomes the Canberra (small print) Sunday Times (big print) and converts from broadsheet to tabloid. |
| 2000 | 30 June | Cameron O’Reilly quits as chief executive of APN News & Media Ltd to pursue private investment interests in Europe. |
| 2000 | 1 July | GST (Goods and Services Tax) implemented throughout Australia, lifting prices of newspapers. |
| 2000 | 2 July | First issue of the Southeast Asian Times, a broadsheet, in Darwin. |
| 2000 | 24 Oct | Robert Whitehead is named the editor of the Sydney Morning Herald, replacing Paul McGeough. |
| 2000 | 27 Nov | Truth, Melbourne, placed in receivership. |
| 2000 | 10 Dec | Sydney Sun-Herald introduces a subscribers-only magazine. |
| 2000 | Christmas | Rural Press Ltd. shifts its executives out of Kensington, in inner-Sydney, back to North Richmond, NSW. |
| Year | Date | Details |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 5 Feb | Fairfax and News Ltd launch commuter papers in Melbourne: Melbourne Express and mX respectively (see ANHG Newsletter, item 11.2). |
| 2001 | 10 Feb | Weekend Australian introduces design changes (see ANHG, 11.11). |
| 2001 | 26 Mar | The Victorian cover price of the weekday Australian is restored to the national price of $1.10 (see ANHG, 12.8). |
| 2001 | 29 Mar | Final issue of Blackall Leader, Queensland (see ANHG, 12.31). |
| 2001 | 18 April | Sydney Morning Herald is 170 years old today (see ANHG, 12.49.13). |
| 2001 | 29 April | First issue of Ipswich on Sunday, a free newspaper published by the Queensland Times (see ANHG, 13.27). |
| 2001 | 20 May | The Sunday Advertiser, Geelong, established in September 2000, ceases publication with no warning (see ANHG, 10.15 and 13.24). |
| 2001 | 21 May | The Australian announces (p.3) it has revamped its website, theaustralian.com.au, offering summaries of each day’s news along with insights into what editor Michael Stutchbury and the reporters are working on for the next day’s edition. |
| 2001 | 30 May | The media empires of Kerry Packer and Rupert Murdoch are rocked by the collapse of cut-price mobile phone company One.Tel, exposing them to losses of up to $1 billion. |
| 2001 | 25 June | Total editorial production of the Kalgoorlie Miner, Western Australia’s only regional daily, returned to the Eastern Goldfields centre (see ANHG, 14.45). |
| 2001 | 19 July | Kerry Packer sells his 14.9 per cent interest in the Fairfax newspaper group (see ANHG, 14.2). |
| 2001 | 23 July | Daily Telegraph, Sydney, launches project to deliver more than 90,000 free books to schoolchildren through NSW and the ACT. |
| 2001 | 6 Aug | Entire edition of the Australian is available to download online. |
| 2001 | 7 Sept | Final issue of Melbourne Express, Fairfax’s Melbourne commuter paper that was launched on 5 February 2001 (see ANHG, 11.2). |
| 2001 | 11 Sept | Terrorist attacks on New York’s World Trade Centre and Pentagon in Washington: biggest news story in decades. Metropolitan dailies produce special editions on 12 September and cover aftermath widely during coming weeks (see ANHG, 15.58.1, 15.58.2 and 15.13) |
| 2001 | 19 Sept | Senate privileges committee finds the Australian in contempt over publication of a leaked Senate committee draft report (see ANHG, 15.20). |
| 2001 | 31 Oct | Moruya Examiner title resurrected on south coast of NSW (see ANHG, 15.50). |
| 2001 | 12 Nov | Woman’s Day, Australia’s biggest-selling weekly magazine, gets a facelift (issue of 19 Nov., available 12 Nov.); printed on a 20 per cent larger sheet (as deep as an A4 and 1.5cm wider), glossy paper. |
| 2001 | 21 Nov | First tabloid issue of Geelong Advertiser on 161st birthday. |
| 2001 | 17 Dec | Frank Devine’s final column appears in Australian (see ANHG, 16.6). |
| 2001 | 21 Dec | Herald Sun, Melbourne, a 24-hour paper since 8 October 1990, publishes its final afternoon edition (see ANHG, 16.11). |
| 2002 | 25 Jan | Australia’s final paid-circulation metropolitan afternoon newspaper edition is produced: the Daily Telegraph, Sydney, a 24-hour paper since 8 October 1990, publishes final afternoon edition (see ANHG, 16.11). |
| 2002 | 2 Feb | The Aussie Post magazine closes; estab. 1 October 1864 in Melbourne as Australasian; many changes of title and format over the years. |
| 2002 | 27 Feb | First issue of National Indigenous Times, established by Owen Carriage, founder 11 years ago of the Koori Mail (see ANHG, 17.2 and 17.63.5). |
| 2002 | March | Final and biggest issue (300 pages) of Elle magazine, Australia. |
| 2002 | April | Australian edition of Rolling Stone turns 30 this month. |
| 2002 | 25 May | In Perth, after more than 13 years as a broadsheet, the Big Weekend converts to a tabloid and changed its title to Weekend Extra. It began on 24 December 1988. An insert in the West Australian each Saturday, it carries features, travel articles, lifestyle hints and various columns. |
| 2002 | 26 June | New editor-in-chief announced for the Australian, Chris Mitchell, and a new editor for the Courier-Mail, David Fagan (see ANHG, 18.2). |
| 2002 | 29 July | WOW (or What’s On Weekly), the first magazine to challenge TV Week in more than 20 years, hits the news stands in Australia (see ANHG, 19.23). |
| 2002 | 27 Sep | First issue of 'Central Coast Extra' as an insert in the Daily Telegraph for Gosford-Wyong readers. |
| 2002 | 28 Sep | First issue of Fairfax's daily Central Coast Herald, Gosford-Wyong. |
| 2002 | 30 Sep | First issue of News Ltd's Central Coast Express Advocate as a free daily and first day of half-price Daily Telegraphs for Central Coast, Newcastle and Hunter Valley readers (50c instead of $1). Full price restored from Feb 2003. |
| 2002 | Oct | First issue of Melbourne magazine. Steve Harris is managing director and editor in chief and John Allan is publisher. Cover price is $8.95 |
| 2003 | 7 Jan | Maitland Mercury, New South Wales, celebrates its 160th birthday (see ANHG, 21.26). |
| 2003 | 1 Mar | Australian Newspaper History Group holds one-day symposium at State Library of New South Wales to mark 200th anniversary, on 5 March, of publication of first issue of first Australian newspaper. |
| 2003 | 5 Mar | The 200th anniversary of the publication of the first Australian newspaper, the Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser. |
| 2003 | 12 Mar | News Ltd launches monthly Sydney Live Magazine as pre-emptive strike against Fairfax’s Sydney Magazine, to begin 19 March. |
| 2003 | 19 Mar | First issue of Fairfax’s monthly Sydney Magazine, inserted in Sydney Morning Herald; some copies available for sale separately through newsagents. |
| 2003 | 31 Mar | Barnet family sells Bunyip, Gawler, South Australia, having owned it since William Barnet established it on 5 September 1863 (see ANHG, 22.28). |
| 2003 | 2 June | Central Coast Herald becomes simply the Herald (Central Coast) and the Newcastle Herald becomes the Herald (Newcastle and Hunter) to satisfy Audit Bureau of Circulations requirements. |
| 2003 | 1 July | South East Newspapers (SEN) launches three new weekly free Star editions in the suburbs of Melbourne to serve: Footscray, Yarraville; Williamstown, Altona, Laverton; and Werribee, Hoppers Crossing. These join the three Brimbank editions: Sunshine, Ardeer, Braybrook; St Albans, Deer Park, Caroline Springs; and Keilor, Taylors Lakes, Sydenham. Each Star now carries the North West Property Guide that SEN launched in March 2000. |
| 2003 | 8 July | City Chronicle, Canberra, begins – a city-centric edition of the Chronicle launched in 1981 by Federal Capital Press, publisher of the daily Canberra Times. The various Canberra Chronicles now have a distribution of 126,500. About 350 people now deliver the Chronicle to more than 90 per cent of homes in the ACT, Queanbeyan and surrounding region. |
| 2003 | 24 Oct | Central Coast Express Advocate, Gosford-Wyong, NSW, ceases to appear daily; appears four times a week from Tuesday, 28 October. |
| 2003 | 17 Nov | Illawarra Mercury introduces a new section called “Vibe” of articles about the Illawarra. This is not a separate section, but, in what is claimed to be a first for Australian newspapers, starts at the back of the paper, with the paper flipped the opposite way around. |
| 2004 | 5 Feb | Broadsheet “Media and Marketing” section begins in the Australian (see ANHG, 26.9). This section began as a tabloid liftout on 25 March 1999 (see ANHG, 4.8). |
| 2004 | 6 April | The News Corporation Ltd announces it will shift its primary stock exchange listing to Wall Street (see ANHG, 27.2). |
| 2004 | 6 May | Castlemaine Mail celebrates 150th birthday. |
| 2004 | 12 June | Final issue of Central Coast edition of the Newcastle-based Herald—the end of the Central Coast Herald publication which began 28 Sept 2002. |
| 2004 | 5 July | Hobart’s Mercury celebrates 150th birthday (see ANHG, 28.53). |
| 2004 | 15 July | Australian celebrates 40th birthday (see ANHG, 28.2, 28.60.28 and 28.60.32). |
| 2004 | 31 July | Australian begins publishing in its business section “The Financial Times International page”. |
| 2004 | 18 Sept | First Australian edition of British Financial Times printed in Sydney. |
| 2004 | 19 Sept | Fairfax’s Sunday Life magazine revamped (see ANHG, 30.6). |
| 2004 | 19 Sept | First issue of Independent Weekly, Adelaide; Sunday paper (see ANHG, 30.2). |
| 2004 | 2 Oct | First edition of Financial Review’s new glossy, quarterly magazine Life & Leisure The Sophisticated Traveller (see ANHG, 30.6). |
| 2004 | 3 Oct | First edition of APN’s Auckland Herald on Sunday (a 188 page, four section tabloid) in opposition to Fairfax NZ’s national Sunday titles |
| 2004 | 15 Oct | Melbourne Age commemorates its 150th anniversary. |
| 2004 | 1 Nov | London Times appears only in tabloid (compact) form for first time. |
| 2004 | 13 Nov | Sydney Morning Herald and Age include special 20th anniversary edition of Good Weekend magazine. |
| 2005 | 6 Jan | 150th birthday of the Ovens & Murray Advertiser, Beechworth. |
| 2005 | 19 Jan | Australian newspapers report the resignation of Mark Latham as Leader of the Federal Opposition and as a parliamentarian. He was the shortest serving Federal Leader of the Labor Party. |
| 2005 | 4 July | First issue of Sydney’s mX free daily commuter newspaper (see ANHG, 33.6). |
| 2005 | 8 July | Australian newspapers report the terrorist bombings that hit the London public transport system on 7 July. |
| 2005 | 14 July | First issue of Alpha, News Magazines’ sport/lifestyle title, with a million print run and 156 pages; home-delivered to more than 500,000 News Ltd newspaper subscribers; sold in newsagencies for $2 with a News Ltd paper. |
| 2005 | 9 Aug | Official opening of $17 million extension to the Canberra Times’ press facilities (see ANHG, 34.22). |
| 2005 | 1-2 Oct | First issue of Qweekend, the colour magazine that is to appear each Saturday with the Courier-Mail. |
| 2005 | 7 Oct | First issue of Wish magazine, a lifestyle magazine that appears on the first Friday of each month with the Australian; 88 pages. |
| 2005 | 8 Oct | 150th birthday of the Illawarra Mercury, Wollongong’s daily (see ANHG, 35.59.8). |
| 2005 | 16 Oct | First issue of Messenger Community Newspapers’ Adelaide Sunday suburban newspaper, the Northern Weekly. |
| 2006 | 13 Mar | Brisbane’s Courier-Mail changes from broadsheet to tabloid format (it liked to call it ‘compact’). |
| 2006 | 14 Mar | Communications Minister Helen Coonan issues discussion paper on overhaul of Australian media industry. Feedback is sought by 18 April. |
| 2006 | 18 Apr | Sydney Morning Herald, Australia’s oldest newspaper, is 175 years old. |
| 2006 | 1 Jul | Thirtieth anniversary of formation of the Australian Press Council. Retired High Court judge Sir Frank Kitto was the first chair. |
| 2006 | July | The Mott family dynasty at the Border Mail, Albury, ends with John Fairfax Holdings Ltd acquiring the daily established by the family in 1903. |
| 2006 | 4 Sep | UK Associated Newspapers announce the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday will be printed and distributed in Australia (from Guardian UK website). |
| 2006 | 6 Sep | First issue of the Australian Literary Review is published as a monthly tabloid insert in the Australian. |
| 2006 | 3 Oct | APN News & Media Ltd opens new Sunshine Coast production centre, at Yandina, and soon after closes Ipswich production centre, leaving five APN east-coast production centres: at Mackay, Rockhampton, Bundaberg and Toowoomba (Qld), and Lismore (NSW). |
| 2006 | 17 Oct | Publishing & Broadcasting sells a half-share in its media assets for $4.5bn to PBL Media, which is half-owned by private equity firm, CVC Asia Pacific. [PBL’s media assets include the Nine Network and ACP Magazines.] |
| 2006 | 18 Oct | The successful passage of the new media laws through Federal Parliament is completed with the House of Representative passing them. |
| 2006 | 18 Oct | Seven Network completes the purchase of a 14.9 per cent strategic stake in West Australian Newspapers after taking an 8.4 per cent stake the previous evening. |
| 2006 | 19 Oct | News Corp pays $385m for a 7.5pc strategic stake in John Fairfax Holdings Ltd |
| 2006 | Oct | Rural Press Ltd acquires daily North-West Star, Mount Isa, from Joel family which had established it in 1966. |
| 2006 | 10 Nov | John Fairfax Holdings Ltd officially changes its name to Fairfax Media Ltd |
| 2006 | 20 Nov | Seven Network secures $3.2 billion to build itself into one of Australia’s largest media companies after selling its TV, magazines and online businesses into a new group (Seven Media) that is jointly owned with private-equity firm KKR – Kohlberg Kravis Roberts. |
| 2006 | 4 Dec | Kerry Stokes’s Seven Network buys a small stake (less than 2 per cent) in Fairfax Media. |
| 2006 | 6 Dec | Fairfax Media Ltd and Rural Press Limited announce a proposal to merge and create Australasia’s largest integrated metropolitan, regional and rural print and digital media business. |
| 2007 | 5 Mar | News Limited launches Brisbane edition of mX. |
| 2007 | 7 Mar | Fairfax Media launches Brisbane online publication, brisbanetimes.com.au |
| 2007 | 4 Apr | Australia’s new media-ownership laws take effect. |
| 2007 | 24 Apr | Rural Press Ltd shares cease trading on the Australian Stock Exchange before the merger with Fairfax Media Ltd. |
| 2007 | 8 May | The merger of Fairfax Media Ltd and Rural Press Ltd becomes official. |
| 2007 | 25 May | Bid by O’Reilly family to buy out other shareholders of APN fails despite overwhelming support from small shareholders. |
| 2007 | 9 Jun | TheNewspaperWorks [sic], the newspaper marketing body established in 2006, advertises for an independent consultant to review the current Australian newspaper readership system and to define world’s best newspaper readership measurement. |
| 2007 | 5 Jul | Kerry Stokes’ Seven Network increases its shareholding in West Australian Newspapers to 16pc. |
| 2007 | 6 Jul | National newsagency Australian Associated Press acquires the Media Monitoring Group, a media analysis, monitoring and related services company. |
| 2007 | 25 Jul | News Ltd announces that it will spend $31 million on giving the Hobart Mercury a state-of-the-art printing press within two years. |
| 2007 | 1 Aug | News Corporation’s $US5 billion bid for Dow Jones (flagship is Wall Street Journal) is accepted. |
| 2007 | 24 Nov | The Howard-led conservative-coalition government is voted out of office after 11 years. Kevin Rudd’s Labor team is elected. |
| 2008 | 29 Jan | Final issue of the Bulletin magazine which began on 31 January 1880. |
| 2008 | 13 Feb | The Federal Parliament says sorry to the Stolen Generations of indigenous Australians; extensive reporting of the speech and the response of Australians appears in daily newspapers the next day. |
| 2008 | 23 Apr | Extraordinary meeting of shareholders of West Australian Newspaper Holdings discusses Seven Network’s proposals for “refreshing” the WAN board but does not elect Kerry Stokes and Peter Gammell to the board. |
| 2008 | 8 May | Official opening by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd of Fairfax Media’s new Sydney headquarters in the inner-city suburb of Pyrmont. |
| 2008 | 10 Jun | Fairfax Media launches Perth’s first online-only news publication: WAtoday.com.au/. |
| 2008 | 26 Aug | Fairfax Media Ltd announces it will shed 550 jobs, 180 of them jobs held by journalists. |
| 2008 | 22 Sep | First Monday edition of the Media section of the Australian; it formerly appeared on Thursdays. |
| 2008 | 3 Dec | Ken Steinke resigns as CEO of West Australian Newspaper Holdings Ltd. less than two hours after chairman Peter Mansell and two other non-executive directors, Jenny Seabrook and Mel Ward, step down at the annual general meeting. |
| 2008 | 5 Dec | David Kirk resigns as CEO of Fairfax Media the day after editor Alan Oakley departed. |
| 2008 | 10 Dec | Brian McCarthy, formerly the deputy CEO, is appointed CEO of Fairfax Media Ltd. |
| 2008 | 11 Dec | Kerry Stokes is elected chairman of the board of West Australian Newspapers Holdings. Chris Wharton, Seven’s Perth managing director, is named the new CEO. Two independent directors, Don Voelte and Sam Walsh, are appointed. |
| 2008 | 15 Dec | WAN’s new CEO Chris Wharton appoints Bob Cronin, 65, as the editor-in-chief of the West Australian, stripping editor Paul Armstrong of editorial control over the Perth daily. Cronin was editor-in-chief of the paper 1986-1996. |
| 2009 | 20 Apr | Fairfax Media runs one-off promotion in Queensland and Western Australian – a 24-page tabloid newspaper under the brisbanetimes.com.au and WAtoday.com.au masthead brands. |
| 2009 | 30 Apr | Fairfax closes Central Coast Sun Weekly, the last link with the failed Central Coast Herald daily experiment of 2002-04 |
| 2009 | 22 June | Merger of the Age and Sydney Morning Herald bureaus in the Canberra press gallery |
| 2009 | 17 Aug | The Australian is printed in Hobart for the first time |
| 2009 | 12-13 Dec | The Age moves from Spencer Street to its custom-built building, Media House, at the corner of Collins and Spencer Streets, near Southern Cross Station |
| 2010 | 28 May | Apple’s iPad goes on sale in Australia, and the Australian becomes the first newspaper in Australia to launch an iPad digital edition |
| 2010 | 30 Oct | First issue of the Weekend West, the revamped and newly titled weekend edition of the West Australian, Perth. |
| 2010 | 6 Dec | Brian McCarthy steps down as chief executive of Fairfax Media Ltd and is replaced temporarily by director Greg Hywood, who, on 7 February 2011, is confirmed in the position. |
| 2011 | Feb | Amanda Wilson becomes the first female editor of the Sydney Morning Herald. |
| 2011 | 13 Aug | Bundaberg NewsMail printed in Bundaberg for final time. It is now printed at APN’s Yandina’s print centre. The Fraser Coast Chronicle of 20 August was the last paper printed on the Bundaberg press—on the evening of Friday, 19 August. |
| 2011 | 10 Sep | Mackay Daily Mercury printed at Mackay for final time. It is now printed at APN’s Rockhampton print centre |
| 2011 | 10 Nov | John B. Fairfax sells his 9.7 per cent stake in Fairfax Media Ltd, ending again the Fairfax family’s interest in the Fairfax company |
Updated to 25 January 2012
