 | |
 Front page of The Mercury on 9 December 2006 | |
| Type | Daily newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Tabloid |
| Owner(s) | Davies Brothers (News Corp Australia) |
| Editor | Craig Herbert |
| Founded | 1854; 170 years ago (1854) |
| Language | English |
| Headquarters | Ground floor, 2 Salamanca Square, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, 7000 |
| Circulation | 44,317 (Weekdays) 61,020 (Saturday) 58,148 (Sunday) |
| ISSN | 1039-9992 |
| Website | www.themercury.com.au |
The Mercury is a daily newspaper, published in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, by Davies Brothers Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, itself a subsidiary of News Corp. The weekend issues of the paper are called Mercury on Saturday and Sunday Tasmanian. The current editor of The Mercury is Craig Herbert.
History
The newspaper was started on 5 July 1854 by George Auber Jones and John Davies. Two months subsequently (13 September 1854) John Davies became the sole owner. It was then published twice weekly and known as the Hobarton Mercury. It rapidly expanded, absorbing its rivals, and became a daily newspaper in 1858 under the lengthy title The Hobart Town Daily Mercury. In 1860 the masthead was reduced to The Mercury and in 2006 it was further shortened to simply Mercury.
With the imminent demise of the (Launceston) Daily Telegraph, The Mercury, from March 1928, used the opportunity to increase their penetration there by expanding the branch office in the northern city, and by putting on "fast cars" to get the paper to Launceston by breakfast.
After Davies' retirement in 1871, the business was carried on by his sons John George Davies and Charles Ellis Davies who later traded as Davies Brothers Ltd. John Davies died on 11 June 1872, aged 58. The company remained in the family's hands until 1986 when the Herald and Weekly Times (HWT) assumed majority ownership. In 1988 News Limited (now News Corp Australia), a subsidiary of News Corporation acquired the HWT, and then the remaining minority interests. However, the subsidiary that owns the Tasmanian operation is still known as Davies Brothers Pty Limited.
The Saturday Evening Mercury, known locally as the SEM was printed and circulated for readers on a Saturday evening from 1954 to 1984, it was replaced in early 1984 by the Sunday Tasmanian which still exists today. Other Tasmanian titles published by the company were the weekly rural newspaper Tasmanian Country and the weekly regional newspaper Derwent Valley Gazette which were acquired from independent publishers in the early 1980s. Both were sold to public relations firm Font PR in 2020. From 1987–2007 Davies Brothers published the monthly travel magazine Treasure Islander.
At various stages in its history there have been limited experiments with regional papers—such as The Westerner which succeeded The West Coast Miner in 1979 to serve the West Coast until its demise in 1995—as well as suburban newspapers for the Hobart market, which appeared in various guises from 1966 until 1998. In November 2006 the company launched what it called a "newspaper in a newspaper" the Kingborough Times which appeared monthly within the Sunday Tasmanian. This was followed in June 2007 by the Northern Times with news from Hobart's northern suburbs. Both inserts have since ceased publication.
Editors
The following people were editors of The Mercury:
| Order | Name | Commencement date | Term ended | Term of office | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | William Coote | 1854 | 1857 | 2–3 years | |
| 2 | Samuel Prout Hill | 1857 | 1861 | 3–4 years | |
| 3 | Thomas Lockyer Bright | 1854 | 1857 | 0–1 years | |
| 4 | James Allen | 1865 | 1865 | 0 years | |
| (3) | Thomas Lockyer Bright | 1865 | 1868 | 2–3 years | |
| 5 | John Donnellan Balfe | 1868 | 1868 | 0 years | |
| 6 | James C. Patterson | 1868 | 1868 | 0 years | |
| 7 | James Simpson | 1868 | 1883 | 14–15 years | |
| 8 | Henry Richard Nicholls | 1883 | 1912 | 28–29 years | |
| 9 | William Henry Simmonds | 1912 | 1931 | 18–19 years | |
| 10 | Frederick Usher | 1931 | 1943 | 11–12 years | |
| 11 | Charles Ellis "C. E." Davies | 1944 | 1954 | 11–12 years | |
| 12 | Roy E. Shone | 1954 | 1970 | 15–16 years | |
| 13 | Dennis Newton Hawker | 1970 | 1982 | 11–12 years | |
| 14 | T. C. Malcolm Williams | 1982 | 1984 | 1–2 years | |
| 15 | James "Jim" Burns | 1984 | 1986 | 1–2 years | |
| 16 | Barry Dargaville | 1986 | 1988 | 1–2 years | |
| 17 | Ian McCausland | 1988 | 2001 | 12–13 years | |
| 18 | Garry Bailey | November 2001 | 5 January 2012 | 10 years, 65 days | |
| 19 | Andrew Holman | January 2012 | January 2014 | 1–2 years | |
| 20 | Matt Deighton | January 2014 | 25 October 2017 | 3 years, 276 days | |
| 21 | Chris Jones | 25 October 2017 | 13 January 2020 | 2 years, 80 days | |
| 22 | Jenna Cairney | 13 January 2020 | 28 October 2021 | 1 year, 288 days | |
| 22a | Brad Petersen (acting) | 28 October 2021 | 30 January 2022 | 94 days | |
| 23 | Craig Warhurst | 31 January 2022 | 4 July 2023 | 1 year, 154 days | |
| 23a | Brad Petersen (acting) | 5 July 2023 | 17 July 2023 | 13 days | |
| 24 | Craig Herbert | 18 July 2023 | current |
Press operations
In July 2007 News Corporation approved a new $31 million press centre for Davies Brothers Pty Ltd, publisher of the Mercury and the Sunday Tasmanian, including the installation of the latest colour press.
Davies Brothers opened the new print centre at the Tasmanian Technopark in Dowsing Point, north of Hobart, in 2009. A new KBA Comet four-colour press replaced the 35-year-old Goss Urbanite press that had been housed in the Argyle Street wing of the company's city site. Other operations of the newspaper group continued to be based in the heart of the city at 93 Macquarie Street.
The success of the new centre soon saw the introduction of local printing of interstate titles for local distribution. This includes the national daily The Australian and Melbourne's Herald Sun.
The June 2024 closure of the state's only other major newspaper printing plant - Australian Community Media’s Rocherlea Print Centre - in Launceston resulted in the printing and distribution of titles such as The Examiner and The Advocate (Tasmania) and local editions of The Age and Australian Financial Review being transferred to the Mercury Print Centre. The weekly rural title Tasmanian Country returned to the Mercury Print Centre after previously being moved to the ACM site by its new owner after that paper's sale by News Corp Australia to FontPR.
Locations
In November 2011 Davies Brothers chief executive officer Rex Gardner announced that the company would move from its landmark Macquarie St headquarters in August 2012, leasing a new office at 2 Salamanca Square. The move took place over the weekend of 28–29 July 2012, although months of work had taken place in advance.
The company has branch offices in Launceston and Burnie, as well as its print centre at Dowsing Point and its distribution centre at Western Junction near Launceston. Its branch office at New Norfolk closed in December 2010. An office in William St, Queenstown closed in the early 1990s.
It was announced in May 2013 that the original site had been sold to an unidentified buyer including the heritage-listed Ingle Hall, which was built in 1814 and housed the Mercury Print Museum. The Macquarie St and Argyle St frontages of the Mercury building were heritage listed in 2012 Later in 2013, the purchasers were identified as Penny Clive and her husband Bruce Neill. Their intent was to transform it into restaurants, art galleries and a creative industries hub. It is now used for a restaurant and the Detached Artist Archive, a private gallery.
From early 2013, the Mercury's Salamanca Square office hosted the Tasmanian bureaus of The Australian and Sky News. The Mercury's Hobart offices have also hosted the Tasmanian bureau of Australian Associated Press over many decades. In 2018, the University of Tasmania opened its Tasmanian Media School, co-located with the Mercury in its Salamanca Square office.
In February 2022, the Mercury relocated to an internal office on the ground floor of the same Salamanca Square building it had occupied since 2012. A fraction of the space it once occupied on the floor above, it was the first time the company's offices did not have a street frontage. It continues to host the local bureau of Sky News.
Circulation and readership
As of March 2011, the Mercury reported its Monday–Friday circulation as 44,317 with an average readership of 107,000 and its Saturday circulation as 61,020 with readership of 146,000. The Sunday Tasmanian reported circulation of 58,148 with readership of 129,000.
In March 2021, readership modelling from Enhanced Media Metrics Australia (emma™) reported the Mercury's average weekday readership had dropped to 76,000, the Saturday Mercury to 63,000 and the Sunday Tasmanian to 53,000.
| Mercury | Saturday Mercury | Sunday Tasmanian | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Month | Monday - Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
| 2020 | December | 76,000 | 63,000 | 53,000 |
| 2020 | September | 74,000 | 71,000 | 55,000 |
| 2020 | August | Not reported | Not reported | Not reported |
| 2020 | July | Not reported | Not reported | Not reported |
| 2020 | June | 75,000 | 68,000 | 58,000 |
| 2020 | May | Not reported | Not reported | Not reported |
| 2020 | April | Not reported | Not reported | Not reported |
| 2020 | March | 71,000 | 64,000 | 58,000 |
| 2020 | February | Not reported | Not reported | Not reported |
| 2020 | January | Not reported | Not reported | Not reported |
| 2019 | December | 76,000 | 72,000 | 62,000 |
| 2019 | November | 75,000 | 72,000 | 64,000 |
| 2019 | October | 76,000 | 74,000 | 64,000 |
| 2019 | September | 77,000 | 74,000 | 63,000 |
| 2019 | August | 80,000 | 79,000 | 63,000 |
| 2019 | July | 80,000 | 80,000 | 65,000 |
| 2019 | June | 80,000 | 81,000 | 66,000 |
| 2019 | May | 80,000 | 82,000 | 66,000 |
| 2019 | April | 82,000 | 83,000 | 65,000 |
| 2019 | March | 82,000 | 84,000 | 66,000 |
| 2019 | February | 83,000 | 89,000 | 67,000 |
| 2019 | January | 79,000 | 84,000 | 67,000 |
| 2018 | December | 83,000 | 88,000 | 69,000 |
| 2018 | November | 84,000 | 89,000 | 70,000 |
| 2018 | October | 84,000 | 90,000 | 73,000 |
| 2018 | September | 85,000 | 92,000 | 72,000 |
| 2018 | August | 85,000 | 88,000 | 74,000 |
| 2018 | July | 85,000 | 92,000 | 75,000 |
| 2018 | June | 82,000 | 89,000 | 77,000 |
| 2018 | May | 84,000 | 93,000 | 80,000 |
| 2018 | April | 87,000 | 97,000 | 82,000 |
| 2018 | March | 90,000 | 97,000 | 82,000 |
| 2018 | February | 92,000 | 95,000 | 85,000 |
| 2018 | January | 93,000 | 97,000 | 86,000 |
| 2017 | December | 90,000 | 97,000 | 86,000 |
| 2017 | November | 85,000 | 93,000 | 81,000 |
| 2017 | October | 87,000 | 90,000 | 76,000 |
| 2017 | September | 86,000 | 93,000 | 77,000 |
| 2017 | August | 88,000 | 94,000 | 77,000 |
| 2017 | July | 89,000 | 91,000 | 80,000 |
| 2017 | June | 92,000 | 95,000 | 81,000 |
| 2017 | May | 93,000 | 96,000 | 82,000 |
| 2017 | April | 93,000 | 96,000 | 81,000 |
| 2017 | March | 94,000 | 98,000 | 84,000 |
| 2017 | February | 93,000 | 97,000 | 84,000 |
| 2017 | January | 96,000 | 100,000 | 88,000 |
| 2016 | December | 95,000 | 100,000 | 86,000 |
| 2016 | November | 97,000 | 102,000 | 88,000 |
| 2016 | October | 97,000 | 105,000 | 91,000 |
| 2016 | September | 95,000 | 104,000 | 91,000 |
| 2016 | August | 96,000 | 106,000 | 93,000 |
| 2016 | July | 96,000 | 107,000 | 93,000 |
| 2016 | June | 97,000 | 108,000 | 94,000 |
| 2016 | May | 96,000 | 107,000 | 92,000 |
| 2016 | April | 96,000 | 108,000 | 96,000 |
| 2016 | March | 93,000 | 105,000 | 92,000 |
| 2016 | February | 94,000 | 106,000 | 91,000 |
| 2016 | January | 93,000 | 106,000 | 88,000 |
| 2015 | December | 95,000 | 108,000 | 91,000 |
| 2015 | November | 98,000 | 110,000 | 95,000 |
| 2015 | October | 99,000 | 110,000 | 94,000 |
| 2015 | September | 100,000 | 115,000 | 95,000 |
| 2015 | August | 101,000 | 115,000 | 97,000 |
| 2015 | July | 101,000 | 113,000 | 96,000 |
| 2015 | June | 103,000 | 113,000 | 96,000 |
| 2015 | May | 103,000 | 113,000 | 97,000 |
| 2015 | April | 108,000 | 116,000 | 100,000 |
| 2015 | March | 109,000 | 118,000 | 103,000 |
| 2015 | February | 111,000 | 119,000 | 108,000 |
| 2015 | January | 115,000 | 122,000 | 111,000 |
| 2014 | December | 113,000 | 121,000 | 111,000 |
| 2014 | November | 110,000 | 121,000 | 109,000 |
| 2014 | October | 111,000 | 120,000 | 110,000 |
| 2014 | September | 113,000 | 119,000 | 109,000 |
| 2014 | August | 114,000 | 120,000 | 110,000 |
| 2014 | July | 114,000 | 121,000 | 110,000 |
| 2014 | June | 114,000 | 122,000 | 111,000 |
| 2014 | May | 113,000 | 125,000 | 112,000 |
| 2014 | April | 115,000 | 126,000 | 112,000 |
| 2014 | March | 113,000 | 125,000 | 110,000 |
| 2014 | February | 112,000 | 124,000 | 108,000 |
| 2014 | January | 110,000 | 123,000 | 106,000 |
| 2013 | December | 112,000 | 125,000 | 109,000 |
| 2013 | November | 114,000 | 127,000 | 111,000 |
| 2013 | October | 115,000 | 127,000 | 110,000 |
| 2013 | September | 114,000 | 126,000 | 110,000 |
| 2013 | August | 115,000 | 123,000 | 109,000 |
| 2013 | July | 113,000 | 123,000 | 111,000 |
The Tasmanian Mail
The Tasmanian Mail was a weekly newspaper published by The Mercury from July 1877 to June 1935. It employed a separate staff from that which brought out the Mercury, and was intended to cover the whole of the state. From 7 April 1921 it was published as The Illustrated Tasmanian Mail.
The following people were editors of the Mail:
| Order | Name | Commencement date | Term ended | Term of office | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | James Patterson | June 1877 | TBC | ||
| 2 | ? Davies | TBC | TBC | ||
| 3 | F. Humphries | TBC | TBC | ||
| 4 | F. Carrington | TBC | TBC | ||
| 5 | Charles James Fox | 1883 | June 1888 | 4–5 years | |
| 6 | G. B. Edwards | 1888 | TBC | ||
| 7 | F. W. Moore | TBC | TBC | ||
| 8 | G. E. Langridge | TBC | TBC | ||
| 9 | J. M. Day | TBC | TBC | ||
| 10 | David Black | TBC | TBC | ||
| 11 | Ronald Smith | TBC | TBC | ||
| 12 | Edwin Ings | TBC | TBC | ||
| 13 | P. H. Thurston | TBC | TBC | ||
| 14 | Fred Usher | TBC | 1922 | ||
| 15 | Constance Cummins | 1922 | 1931 | 8–9 years | |
| 16 | J. E. Thorp | 1931 | 1935 | 3–4 years |
Endorsements
| National election | Endorsement | |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Labor | |
| 2013 | Coalition | |
| 2016 | Coalition | |
| 2019 | No endorsement | |
| 2022 | No endorsement | |
See also
Notes
- The Mercury 5 Nov 1995, page 4f, 'The Jubilee of The Mercury'
- "Newspaper Changes". The Mercury. Vol. CXXVIII, no. 18, 845. Tasmania, Australia. 30 March 1928. p. 8. Retrieved 20 May 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
- Kilpatrick and Tanner, Rod and Stephen (2005). "Australian Studies in Journalism: Tall timbers come down: End of Independence for Tasmania's daily press". UQ eSpace.
- "Editors". Archived from the original on 23 February 2014. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
- "TASMANIA". The Morning Bulletin. Rockhampton, Qld. 18 October 1880. p. 3. Retrieved 11 December 2013 – via National Library of Australia.
- Bate, Weston. "Henry Richard Nicholls (1830–1912)". Nicholls, Henry Richard (1830–1912). Australian Dictionary of Biography. Australian National University.
- "W. H. Simmonds". The Morning Bulletin. Rockhampton, Qld. 21 September 1934. p. 11. Retrieved 11 December 2013 – via National Library of Australia.
- "Personal". The West Australian. Perth. 8 December 1930. p. 8. Retrieved 11 December 2013 – via National Library of Australia.
- "Mr C. E. Davies Appointed Managing Editor Of "The Mercury"". The Mercury. Hobart, Tasmania. 1 January 1944. p. 3. Retrieved 11 December 2013 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ Cairns editor for the Mercury, Mercury website.
- News appoints Matt Deighton as new Mercury editor, Mercury website. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
- Chris Jones appointed as editor of the Mercury, Mercury website. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
- New Mercury editor announced by News Corporation executive chairman Michael Miller, Mercury website. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
- [ Jenna Cairney to take on new role with Tasmanian Government], Telum Media, 29 October 2021.
- [ Warhurst to lead the Mercury], Telum Media, 2 December 2021.
- [ People], Australian Newspaper History Group, No. 123, July 2023.
- $31m press upgrade for Mercury, Mercury website, 25 July 2007.
- Tassie tough: News' Hobart site in detail, gxpress website, 1 September 2009.
- Examiner, Advocate newspapers not affected by press site proposal, The Examiner website, 31 May 2024.
- Mercury on the move, Mercury website, 17 November 2011.
- Gazette office closes but paper carries on, New Norfolk News website, 22 December 2010.
- Buyer inks deal on landmark, Mercury website, 16 May 2013.
- Heritage listing for Mercury building, ABC News website 2 December 2012. 3 December 2012.
- Abey, Duncan (19 September 2013). "A new creative hub breathes life into old Mercury building". Mercury. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
- Neill, Rosemary (2 June 2019). "Australia's best kept cultural secret". The Australian. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
- "Are the Arts subverting Hobart?". Tourism stories. Brand Tasmania. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
- "SKY News to open Hobart base". Tvtonight.com.au. 7 December 2012. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
- "Subscribe to The Australian". Dsf.newscorpaustralia.com. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
- Facts: Mercury Archived 19 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine, NewsSpace, March 2011. Retrieved 13 July 2011.
- Facts: Sunday Tasmanian Archived 21 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine, NewsSpace, March 2011. Retrieved 13 July 2011.
- ^ "Audience Reports". Enhanced Media Metrics Australia. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
- "Sixty Years of Service". The Mercury (Hobart). Tasmania, Australia. 28 June 1935. p. 8. Retrieved 28 April 2020 – via Trove.
- "The New Weekly Newspaper". The Mercury (Hobart). Tasmania, Australia. 13 June 1877. p. 2. Retrieved 28 April 2020 – via Trove.
- ^ Illustrated Tasmanian Mail 27 June 1935, page 43, 'The Illustrated Mail's Passing Pageant'
- "Shipping". Tasmanian News. Tasmania, Australia. 20 June 1888. p. 3. Retrieved 28 April 2020 – via Trove.
External links
- Official website
- The Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954) at Trove
- The Hobarton Mercury (Tas. : 1854 - 1857) at Trove
- The Hobart Town Mercury (Tas. : 1857) at Trove
- The Hobart Town Daily Mercury (Tas. : 1858 - 1860) at Trove
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