The Courier-Mail facts for kids
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Front page, 25 July 2008, with the aftermath of the Liberal National Party merger headlining
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| Type | Daily newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Tabloid |
| Owner(s) | News Corp Australia |
| Publisher | Queensland Newspapers |
| Founded | 1846 |
| Language | English |
| Headquarters | Brisbane, Australia 41 Campbell St Bowen Hills QLD 4006 |
| Circulation | 172,801 Monday–Friday 228,650 Saturday |
| ISSN | 1322-5235 |
The Courier-Mail is a newspaper published in Brisbane, Australia. It is owned by News Corp Australia and comes out every day from Monday to Saturday. The newspaper is printed in a smaller size called "tabloid" format. Its main offices are in Bowen Hills, Brisbane, and it is printed in Yandina on the Sunshine Coast. You can buy The Courier-Mail online or in paper form across Queensland and parts of Northern New South Wales.
Contents
The Story of The Courier-Mail
How it Started in the 1800s
The newspaper we know today as The Courier-Mail has a long history. It started with four different names! The first paper was called the Moreton Bay Courier, which later became The Courier, then the Brisbane Courier. Finally, in 1933, it joined with another paper called the Daily Mail to become The Courier-Mail.
The Moreton Bay Courier began as a weekly newspaper in June 1846. Its first goal was to share what the community needed and to tell the truth about the colony. It wanted to help the area grow and become successful.
The paper started coming out more often. By 1861, it was published every day. Arthur Sidney Lyon is known as the founder and first editor. He worked with James Swan, who was the printer and later became the mayor of Brisbane. Lyon and Swan started the paper in Brisbane in 1846. The very first issue had four pages and came out on Saturday, June 20, 1846.
After some time, Lyon and Swan had different ideas about the paper. Lyon took over for a bit, then Swan, who later sold it to Thomas Blacket Stephens. The Moreton Bay Courier changed its name to The Courier, and then to the Brisbane Courier in 1864.
The 1900s and Beyond
John James Knight was the editor of The Brisbane Courier from 1906 to 1916.
The first edition of The Courier-Mail was published on August 28, 1933. This happened after a company called The Herald and Weekly Times bought and combined The Brisbane Courier and the Daily Mail. Later, in 1987, Rupert Murdoch's company, News Corp Australia, took control of the newspaper.
The Courier-Mail launched its first website in 1998, making it available online.
Changes in the 2000s
For many years, until 2006, The Courier-Mail was a large newspaper called a "broadsheet." In December 2005, it was announced that the paper would change to a smaller "tabloid" size. They called it "compact" instead of "tabloid" because some people thought tabloids were lower quality.
The last large-sized paper was printed on Saturday, March 11, 2006. The first smaller "tabloid" version came out on Monday, March 13, 2006. On the same day, the newspaper's website was updated and made bigger. This change made The Courier-Mail similar to other daily newspapers owned by News Limited (now News Corp Australia) in Australia.
Achievements and Recognition
The Courier-Mail has won awards, including being named "news destination of the year" twice by the Pacific Area Publishers Association. It was also named "national/metro daily newspaper of the year" once.
The newspaper is known for supporting its community. In 2022, it was recognized for helping to get an extra $425 million each year for mental health services in Queensland.
In 2015, The Courier-Mail was added to the Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame.
Political Views
Like other newspapers owned by News Corp Australia, The Courier-Mail generally supports conservative political ideas. This means they often agree with the Liberal Party in Australia. Since at least 2010, The Courier-Mail and other major daily newspapers from News Corp Australia have supported the Coalition (a group of conservative parties) in federal elections.
How Many People Read It
In 2013, The Courier-Mail was the fourth most-read daily newspaper in Australia. On average, about 172,801 copies were sold from Monday to Friday, and 228,650 on Saturdays. Most of the people who read the paper live in the Brisbane area.
Even though it's often said to be Brisbane's only daily newspaper, it has had some competition. News Corp itself published a free afternoon newspaper called mX from 2007 to 2015. Also, since 2007, another company has published an online-only newspaper called Brisbane Times.
As of August 2015, The Courier-Mail's website was one of the most visited news websites in Australia, getting almost 2.6 million visitors each month.
Awards Sponsored by the Newspaper
The Courier-Mail has helped sponsor two sets of literary awards, which are prizes for writers.
The Courier-Mail Book of the Year Award was created in 1999 and offered a prize of $30,000. It covered different types of writing. The award was given out from 2001 to 2005. Some of the winning books included:
- 2001: The Schoonermaster's Dance by Alan Gould, and True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey
- 2002: Recollections of a Bleeding Heart: A Portrait of Paul Keating PM by Don Watson
- 2003: Wings of the Kite-Hawk by Nicolas Rothwell
- 2004: The White Earth by Andrew McGahan
- 2005: The Silver Donkey: A Novel for Children by Sonya Hartnett
- 2005 - People's Choice Award: The Running Man by Michael Gerard Bauer
Since 2012, The Courier-Mail has also helped sponsor The Courier-Mail People's Choice Queensland Book of the Year. This award is part of the Queensland Literary Awards and goes to an excellent book by a Queensland author.
Digital Copies of Old Newspapers
Older issues of The Courier-Mail from before 1955 have been made into digital copies. This is part of a program by the National Library of Australia to save old Australian newspapers.
Editors and Journalists
Many people have worked as editors and journalists at The Courier-Mail. For example, Jack Reardon, a former Australian rugby league vice-captain, was a senior rugby league journalist for thirty years. Tom Linneth became the youngest editor in Australia in 1960 at age 29.
Chris Jones became the editor in 2020, taking over from Sam Weir. Chris Jones had worked for News Corp for 21 years before becoming editor.
As of November 2023, the newspaper's cartoonist (who draws political cartoons) is Sean Leahy.
- Jun 1846 – Dec 1847: Arthur Sidney Lyon (first editor)
- Dec 1847 – c. 1850: James Swan
- Early to mid-1850s: William Charles Wilkes
- 1859: Richard Belford
- 1859–1863: Theophilus Parsons Pugh
- 1864–1866: David Frederick Tudor Jones
- 1867–c. 1869: William O'Carroll
- 1869–1873: George Hall
- 1873–1875: Gresley Lukin
- 1875 – Dec 1880: William O'Carroll
- Jan 1881– Sep 1883: William O'Carroll
- Sep 1883 – Oct 1887: Carl Adolph Feilberg
- Oct 1887 – Dec 1887: Edmund John T Barton
- Jan 1888 – Jun 1891: William Kinnaird Rose
- Jan 1894 – Nov 1898: Frederick William Ward
- Dec 1898 – Apr 1903: Charles Brunsdon Fletcher
- April 1903 – 1906: Edmund John T Barton
- 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
- late 1936 – 1938: Charles E Sligo
- Apr 1938 – late 1941: Jack C Waters
- 1942 – 1968: Theodor Charles Bray
- 1968 – 1969: Alan F Cummins
- 1969 – 1979: John R Atherton
- 1979 – 1984: Kevin J Kavanagh
- Mar 1984 – Mar 1987: David C Smith
- Mar 1987 – Apr 1991: Greg Chamberlin
- Apr 1991 – Apr 1995: Jack Lunn
- Apr 1991 – Apr 1995: Des Houghton
- Apr 1995 – Jun 2002: Chris Mitchell
- Jun 2002 – Mar 2010: David Fagan
- Mar 2010 – June 2013: Michael Crutcher
- June 2013 – Dec 2015: Chris Dore
- Jan 2016 – Aug 2017: Lachlan Heywood
- Sep 2017 – Dec 2019: Sam Weir
- Jan 2020 – : Chris Jones
See also
- The Sunday Mail
- List of newspapers in Australia
