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| Type | Dailynewspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Tabloid |
| Owner | News Corp Australia |
| Founder(s) | Don Whitington, Eric White & John Coleman |
| Editor | Melanie Plane |
| Founded | 8 February 1952 |
| Political alignment | Centre-right[1][non-primary source needed] orsyncretic[2][non-primary source needed][3][failed verification] |
| Headquarters | Printers PlaceDarwin, Northern Territory |
| Sister newspapers | Centralian Advocate (online only) |
| ISSN | 1837-3909 |
| OCLC number | 1126462895 |
| Website | ntnews |
TheNorthern Territory News (also known and branded as theNT News) is a morningtabloidnewspaper based inDarwin, Northern Territory,Australia. Owned byNews Corp Australia, it is published every week from Monday to Saturday. It primarily serves Darwin and the rest of the Northern Territory, covering local, national and world news, as well as sports and business. In April 2021, the paper had a Monday to Friday readership average of 44,000, reaching an average of 32,000 on Saturdays.[4]
News Corp Australia also publishes its local Sunday counterpart,The Sunday Territorian, which is also available throughout Darwin and the Northern Territory,[5][6] its online regional NT newspaper, theCentralian Advocate, as well as free weekly community newspapers (since December 2008) under the banner ofSun Newspapers (delivered in Darwin, Palmerston, and Litchfield).[7][8]
The paper has become well known around Australia for its front-page headlines, with then-Deputy Editor Paul Dyer winning aWalkley Award for his contributions in 2012.[9]
Prior to the formation of theNorthern Territory News, the Federal Government was concerned about the perceived pro-communist bias fromThe Northern Standard, a newspaper owned by theNorth Australian Workers' Union. In 1949, they approached a Canberra-based journalist,Don Whitington, to establish a rival newspaper that counterbalanced the bias perceived by the Federal Government fromThe Northern Standard. Whitington formed theNorthern Territory News Services, aided by Eric White and local printer John Coleman.[10]
The first edition of theNorthern Territory News was published on 8 February 1952 as a weekly newspaper, later being published on a bi-weekly basis. Its office and print room were originally located from the former site of theEnglish, Scottish and Australian Bank in Smith Street, nicknamed the "Tin Bank".[10][11] Originally, the paper was quite politically active being a noted advocate of greater self-governance powers for theNorthern Territory, as well as being vocal on a number of other local issues. However, the paper gradually lapsed into the current apolitical stance it maintains presently, with its most noted feature being its unique headlines and front pages.[citation needed]
In 1960,News Limited bought theNorthern Territory News, and it became a weekday newspaper in 1964. The Saturday edition was introduced in 1966, increasing its publishing schedule to six days a week, reverting to five days a week in 1975, before restarting its Saturday edition in 1979.[10]
In 1967, its office moved to Mitchell Street, oppositeHotel Darwin. On 25 December 1974, the building was destroyed, along with much of Darwin and its surrounds, byCyclone Tracy,[12] although theNT News was still able to print emergency editions during the crisis.[13]
Its Sunday counterpart, theSunday Territorian, was introduced on 7 October 1984. In 1985, theNT News relocated to its present location in Printers Place inDarwin City.[10]
In September 2010, the newspaper took delivery of the four-colour KBA Comet printing press which allows it to produce 64 pages in full colour. The Comet replaced the Uniman 2/2 machine on the floor, which increased its capacity to allow the plant to produce each Sunday to Friday edition in a single run, and to produce the Saturday edition in three runs instead of five.[14][15]
On 30 July 2019, theNorthern Territory News was resized from its original 405 millimetre high size, down to 350 millimetres from 12 August, with print editions of theSunday Territorian and theCentralian Advocate following suit, being the first Australian newspaper to implement this format. The size is similar to the dimensions used by other internationalNews Corp tabloids, most notably theNew York Post.[16] On 29 June 2020, theCentralian Advocate moved to adigital-only format, along with numerous other News Corp-owned regional newspapers across Australia.[17]
| National election | Endorsement | |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Labor | |
| 2013 | Coalition | |
| 2016 | Coalition | |
| 2019 | Labor | |
| 2022 | Labor | |