The Mercury (Hobart)

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.

For the California newspaper, see The Mercury News. For the Pennsylvania newspaper, see The Mercury (Pennsylvania).

The Mercury
The Mercury masthead
Front page of The Mercury on 9 December 2006
TypeDaily newspaper
FormatTabloid
Owner(s)Davies Brothers (News Corp Australia)
EditorCraig Herbert
Founded1854 (1854)
HeadquartersGround floor, 2 Salamanca Square, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, 7000
Circulation44,317 (Weekdays)
61,020 (Saturday)
58,148 (Sunday)
ISSN1039-9992
Websitewww.themercury.com.au

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.[1] 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.[2]

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.[3] 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:[4]

OrderNameCommencement dateTerm endedTerm of officeReference
1William Coote185418572–3 years
2Samuel Prout Hill185718613–4 years
3Thomas Lockyer Bright185418570–1 years
4James Allen186518650 years
(3)Thomas Lockyer Bright186518682–3 years
5John Donnellan Balfe186818680 years
6James C. Patterson186818680 years
7James Simpson1868188314–15 years[5]
8Henry Richard Nicholls1883191228–29 years[6]
9William Henry Simmonds1912193118–19 years[7]
10Frederick Usher1931194311–12 years[8]
11Charles Ellis "C.E." Davies1944195411–12 years[9]
12Roy E. Shone1954197015–16 years
13Dennis Newton Hawker1970198211–12 years
14T. C. Malcolm Williams198219841–2 years
15James "Jim" Burns198419861–2 years
16Barry Dargaville198619881–2 years
17Ian McCausland1988200112–13 years
18Garry BaileyNovember 20015 January 201210 years, 65 days[10]
19Andrew HolmanJanuary 2012January 20141–2 years[10]
20Matt DeightonJanuary 201425 October 20173 years, 276 days[11]
21Chris Jones25 October 201713 January 20202 years, 80 days[12]
22Jenna Cairney13 January 202028 October 20211 year, 288 days[13]
22aBrad Petersen (acting)28 October 202130 January 202294 days[14]
23Craig Warhurst31 January 20224 July 20231 year, 154 days[15]
23aBrad Petersen (acting)5 July 202317 July 202313 days
24Craig Herbert18 July 2023current[16]

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.[17]

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.[18] 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.

Locations
The former Mercury building at 91-93 Macquarie Street, Hobart

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.[19] 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.[20] 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[21] 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[22] 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.[23] It is now used for a restaurant and the Detached Artist Archive, a private gallery.[24][25]

From early 2013, the Mercury's Salamanca Square office hosted the Tasmanian bureaus of The Australian and Sky News.[26] 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,[27] 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.[28] The Sunday Tasmanian reported circulation of 58,148 with readership of 129,000.[29]

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.[30]

Print audience (average issue readership)[30]
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.[31] It employed a separate staff from that which brought out the Mercury, and was intended to cover the whole of the state.[32] From 7 April 1921 it was published as The Illustrated Tasmanian Mail.

The following people were editors of the Mail:

OrderNameCommencement dateTerm endedTerm of officeReference
1James PattersonJune 1877TBC[33]
2 ? DaviesTBCTBC[33]
3F. HumphriesTBCTBC[33]
4F. CarringtonTBCTBC[33]
5Charles James Fox1883June 18884–5 years[33][34]
6G.B. Edwards1888TBC[33]
7F.W. MooreTBCTBC[33]
8G.E. LangridgeTBCTBC[33]
9J.M. DayTBCTBC[33]
10David BlackTBCTBC[33]
11Ronald SmithTBCTBC[33]
12Edwin IngsTBCTBC[33]
13P.H. ThurstonTBCTBC[33]
14Fred UsherTBC1922[33]
15Constance Cummins192219318–9 years[33]
16J.E. Thorp193119353–4 years[33]

See also

Notes
  1. The Mercury 5 Nov 1995, page 4f, 'The Jubilee of The Mercury'
  2. "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.
  3. 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.
  4. "Editors". Archived from the original on 23 February 2014. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
  5. "TASMANIA". The Morning Bulletin. Rockhampton, Qld. 18 October 1880. p. 3. Retrieved 11 December 2013 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. Bate, Weston. Nicholls, Henry Richard (1830–1912). {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  7. "W. H. Simmonds". The Morning Bulletin. Rockhampton, Qld. 21 September 1934. p. 11. Retrieved 11 December 2013 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. "Personal". The West Australian. Perth. 8 December 1930. p. 8. Retrieved 11 December 2013 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. "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.
  10. Cairns editor for the Mercury, Mercury website.
  11. News appoints Matt Deighton as new Mercury editor, Mercury website. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
  12. Chris Jones appointed as editor of the Mercury, Mercury website. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
  13. New Mercury editor announced by News Corporation executive chairman Michael Miller, Mercury website. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  14. [ Jenna Cairney to take on new role with Tasmanian Government], Telum Media, 29 October 2021.
  15. [ Warhurst to lead the Mercury], Telum Media, 2 December 2021.
  16. [ People], Australian Newspaper History Group, No. 123, July 2023.
  17. $31m press upgrade for Mercury, Mercury website, 25 July 2007.
  18. Tassie tough: News' Hobart site in detail, gxpress website, 1 September 2009.
  19. Mercury on the move, Mercury website, 17 November 2011.
  20. Gazette office closes but paper carries on, New Norfolk News website, 22 December 2010.
  21. Buyer inks deal on landmark, Mercury website, 16 May 2013.
  22. Heritage listing for Mercury building, ABC News website 2 December 2012. 3 December 2012.
  23. Abey, Duncan (19 September 2013). "A new creative hub breathes life into old Mercury building". Mercury. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  24. Neill, Rosemary (2 June 2019). "Australia's best kept cultural secret". The Australian. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  25. "Are the Arts subverting Hobart?". Tourism stories. Brand Tasmania. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  26. "SKY News to open Hobart base". Tvtonight.com.au. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
  27. "Subscribe to The Australian". Dsf.newscorpaustralia.com. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
  28. Facts: Mercury Archived 19 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine, NewsSpace, March 2011. Retrieved 13 July 2011.
  29. Facts: Sunday Tasmanian Archived 21 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine, NewsSpace, March 2011. Retrieved 13 July 2011.
  30. "Audience Reports". Enhanced Media Metrics Australia. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  31. "Sixty Years of Service". The Mercury (Hobart). Tasmania, Australia. 28 June 1935. p. 8. Retrieved 28 April 2020 – via Trove.
  32. "The New Weekly Newspaper". The Mercury (Hobart). Tasmania, Australia. 13 June 1877. p. 2. Retrieved 28 April 2020 – via Trove.
  33. Illustrated Tasmanian Mail 27 June 1935, page 43, 'The Illustrated Mail's Passing Pageant'
  34. "Shipping". Tasmanian News. Tasmania, Australia. 20 June 1888. p. 3. Retrieved 28 April 2020 – via Trove.
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