The Scone Advocate
Front page of The Scone Advocate on 22 December 2005 | |
Type | Weekly newspaper |
---|---|
Format | Tabloid |
Owner(s) | Australian Community Media |
Editor | N/A |
Founded | 7 October 1887 |
Headquarters | 206 Kelly Street, Scone, NSW, Australia |
Website | www.scone.yourguide.com.au |
The Scone Advocate is an Australian local
History
The Advocate began publication on 7 October 1887 as a weekly broadsheet newspaper, under the ownership of founder Arthur "Advocate" Smith. Five years later, it became a twice-weekly publication, and in 1898, the paper purchased their first typewriter. In 1933, Smith died, and was replaced by his son Arthur Fleming "Tod" Smith. The paper commenced construction of a new building in 1935, and later soon moved to a new location in Kelly Street, replacing the original offices at the corner of Liverpool and Guernsey Streets, which were destroyed by fire in 1942.
A year later, John Arthur "Jack" Smith replaced his father as editor of the Advocate. In 1954, publication days were changed to Tuesdays and Fridays. Also in 1954, the paper is sold to a locally owned company, Scone Advocate Limited, with local businessman J.M. "Mick" Flint as managing director. Later that year, then-editor Vern Hennessy left the paper, and the paper switched to a tabloid format.
Between 1957 and 1975, the Advocate had three editors: Joseph Charles "Joe" Court, William E.M "Mac" Abbott, and James "Jim" Brundson. In 1974, the newspaper was purchased by Western Newspapers Ltd., a subsidiary of Consolidated Press Group, controlled by the Packer family. The next year, Mike Pritchard was appointed as editor, and continued in that role until 1990. In 1976, the newspaper changed to a weekly publication, released Wednesdays.
In 1982, a move to develop the paper into a regional newspaper called The Valley Advocate with a wider-circulation proved unsuccessful. The paper was given away free outside of Scone, but local residents were still required to pay twenty five cents to buy a copy. In 1984, the Scone Advocate banner was restored, with a new publication date of Thursday (which is still the case today. Also in that year, the Packer-controlled Regional Publishers Pty. Ltd. was merged with
In 1987,
In 1996, the Advocate was compiled on site for the first time using the
In 2005, the printing facilities were moved, this time to
National attention
The newspaper drew national media attention for its coverage of a gruesome murder in Aberdeen in the late 1990s, particularly from the ABC program Media Watch in 2000.[1] The newspaper was criticised by the program, local readers and the victim's family for its graphic coverage. The editor at the time, Rhonda Turner, defended the newspaper and its reporting of the incident.
Prior to this, the newspaper's articles had appeared as part of the game show Don't Forget Your Toothbrush.
Alumni
- Mike Pritchard (editor, 1975–1990, now breakfast presenter at ABC Upper Hunter)
- David Bauche (journalist, 2007, now at Power FMMuswellbrook)
Digitisation
The paper has been digitised as part of the
See also
External links
References
- ^ "1/5/00". May 2000.
- ^ "The Scone Advocate (NSW : 1887 - 1954)". Trove. National Library of Australia. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
- ^ "Newspaper Digitisation Program". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 5 June 2013.