This article attempts to begin the process of acknowledging the important historical role that suburban newspapers have played in the Australian print media landscape. It canvasses some reasons for this lack of recognition across the media, including the stigma of a ‘free’ publication. It also identifies the foundations that have shaped the suburban press, and reveals some important, and hitherto unrecognised, collective initiatives that the suburban press undertook to protect their interests. Finally, it raises the prospect that there are significant opportunities for the suburban press to capitalise on the digital era's focus on local news.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Australian Newspaper History Group Newsletter (ANHG)2001, no. 13, July.
2.
BarilaG.2010, ‘Hyperlocal: Really, Really Local’, in Life in the Clickstream, MEAA, Sydney.
3.
BrightG.1974, ‘Suburbans: The Sydney Battle’, Politics, vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 186–8.
4.
Community Newspapers of Australia, website, www.cna.org.au
HayCG. 1974‘The Suburban Press: Community Voice or Oligopoly Control’, Politics, vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 176–85.
11.
KirkpatrickR.1984, A History of the Provincial Press in Queensland to 1930, Darling Downs Institute, Toowoomba.
12.
KirkpatrickR.2000, Country Conscience: A History of the NSW Provincial Press 1841–1995, Infinite Harvest, Canberra.
13.
LloydC.1985, Profession – Journalist: A History of the Australian Journalists' Association, Hale and Iremonger, Sydney.
14.
MayerH.1964, The Press in Australia, Lansdowne Press, Melbourne.
15.
MunsterG.1987, A Paper Prince, Penguin, Ringwood.
16.
O'ConnorM.2003, Pig Bites Baby, Duffy and Snellgrove, Sydney.
17.
RichardsonN.2012, ‘The Virtues of Localism in the Digital Age’, in RicketsonM. (ed.), Australian Journalism Today, Palgrave Macmillan, Melbourne, pp. 123–41.
18.
SouterG.1981, Company of Heralds: A Century and a Half of Australian Publishing by John Fairfax Limited and Its Predecessors, 1831–1981, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne.
19.
WalkerR.B.1976, The Newspaper Press in New South Wales 1803–1920, Sydney University Press, Sydney.
20.
WalkerR.B.1980, Yesterday's News: A History of the Newspaper Press in New South Wales from 1920 to 1945, Sydney University Press, Sydney.
