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This
profile considers the Australian Associated Newspapers,
Sun Newspapers and Smiths publishing groups.
It covers -
introduction
The vicissitudes of Sydney-based newspaper groups in the
1920s and 1930s offer a point of reference in considering
contemporary moguls such as Maxwell,
Black, O'Reilly,
Ingersoll and Murdoch.
In particular they suggest that identifying (and meeting)
market demands - particularly in a highly competitive
environment is an ongoing challenge. Personal flamboyance,
a capacity to bet the company on strategic expansion,
and impropriety or outright fraud are similarly not traits
restricted to the last two decades.
Sun and Denison
Industrialist Hugh Dixson (1865-1940) made one fortune
when the Dixson family's tobacco interests merged with
competitors in 1903 to form the British Australasian Tobacco
Co Ltd, later acquired by the British American Tobacco
(BAT) conglomerate and a precursor of groups such as Coca-Cola
Amatil and WD & HO Wills. Dixson changed his surname
to Denison in 1907 after moving to Sydney, apparently
to avoid confusion with uncle Sir Hugh Dixson.
In 1910 he established Sun Newspapers Company and acquired
the ailing Sydney Australian Star, which he successfully
relaunched as daily broadsheet The Sun to accompany
the Sunday Sun. The group survived the bitter
newspaper wars of the decade through clever promotion
and innovation. (The Sun for example is often
claimed as the first major Australian daily to regularly
run news on its front page but, as Victor Isaacs kindly
pointed out, that innovation was anticipated by the Melbourne
Herald in 1889, some 21 years earlier).
In 1922 Denison, who had been knighted in the preceding
year, launched the morning Sun News Pictorial
in Melbourne, competing with the Herald & Weekly Times
(H&WT) under Keith Murdoch.
Murdoch failed in a bid to gain control of the Sydney
Evening News, which was reconstructed as Samuel
Bennett Ltd under the control of major Sydney retailers,
and in 1923 Sun followed up by launching the Melbourne
Evening Sun. Neither of its Melbourne papers
were successful and in 1925 Denison sold them to H&WT,
with other Melbourne assets going to James Joynton Smith.
In 1929 he formed Associated Newspapers through a merger
of Sun and Samuel Bennett Ltd. The new group encompassed
the Sydney daily Sun, Sunday Sun, Evening
News, Sunday News, Woman's Budget,
Sporting & Dramatic News, Daily Telegraph
Pictorial, Sunday Pictorial, Newcastle Sun,
Wireless Weekly and World's News.
In 1930 Associated acquired Smith's ailing Daily Guardian
and Sunday Guardian (Smith and associate Robert
Packer received preference shares)
and the Arrow and Referee weeklies.
The Sunday News and Evening News
were closed. The Daily Guardian merged with the
Daily Pictorial in 1931 as the Daily Telegraph
and the Sunday Guardian was absorbed by the
Sunday Sun. Robert Packer became General Manager
of Associated, with son Frank having a brief service as
"office spy" before joining with former federal
Treasurer Ted Theodore to form Sydney Newspapers Ltd.
In 1936 Associated transferred some interests - principally
the ailing Telegraph - to Consolidated Press
Ltd, controlled by the Packers and Theodore. That company
was the predecessor of Australian Consolidated Press (ACP).
The new owners had more success with the Telegraph,
notably through investment, and leveraged that success
through launch of the Evening Telegraph and Sunday
Telegraph.
In 1953 Associated (which had by then spun off its Newcastle
interests, closed some titles and converted the Sun
to a tabloid) was acquired by Fairfax.
Joynton Smith and Smiths Weekly
James Joynton Smith (1858-1943) gained fame as proprietor
of Smith's Weekly. In his youth he worked as
a pawnbroker's assistant, cabin boy and ships cook. In
1886, after gambling away profits from operation of a
pub he became founding Secretary of the New Zealand Cooks'
& Stewards' Union, subsequently moving to Sydney where
he managed a temperance hotel and in 1896 acquired the
lease of the Imperial Arcade Hotel.
The business prospered sufficiently for Joynton Smith
to purchase the Imperial Arcade for £147,500 in
1924 and acquire hotels in Sydney and the Blue Mountains
(notably the Carrington Hotel). In 1917, after appointment
to the NSW Legislative Council and prominence as a racecourse
promoter, he was elected as Lord Mayor of Sydney.
He responded to defeat in the 1918 election by launching
Smith's Weekly, with Robert Clyde Packer
as manager. Packer and editor Claude McKay each received
a one-third share in Smith's Weekly in 1921.
Smith's Newspapers Ltd launched the Daily Guardian
in 1923 and the Sunday Guardian in 1929, acquiring
the Referee and Arrow after the collapse
of Hugh McIntosh and Beckett's Newspapers Ltd. He had
earlier taken a stake in radio station 2BL.
In 1930 he unloaded the loss-making Guardians
to Associated Newspapers, retaining Smiths's Weekly
and minor publishing interests but progressively liquidating
his property holdings. The Imperial Arcade was sold for
£600,000. In 1931 he bought Packer's preference
shares in Associated. Smith's Weekly reached
a peak circulation of over 300,000 in the mid 1940s but
died in 1950.
Samuel Bennett
Samuel Bennett (1815-1878) migrated to New South Wales
in 1841 under contract to the proprietors of the Sydney
Herald. In 1859 Bennett and partner William Hanson
(the Government Printer) acquired the Empire
from creditors of Henry Parkes (later NSW Premier), relaunched
as a morning daily in competition with the Fairfax's SMH.
In 1860 they launched the Sunday Empire.
The Bennett-Hanson partnership dissolved in 1867, with
Bennett launching the Sydney daily evening Evening
News, followed by the weekly Town & Country
Journal in 1870. Labour problems resulted in amalgamation
of the Evening News and Empire in 1875.
Following his death the papers were operated as a family
partnership before becoming a public company - S Bennett
Ltd - in 1917 under the control of major retailers such
as Soul Pattison and the Farmer family.
It merged with Sun Newspapers Ltd in 1931 to form Associated
Newspapers.
McIntosh
Hugh McIntosh (1876-1942) - a prototype for Robert
Maxwell - gained attention and a fortune as a fight promoter
(notably through his film of the 1908 match between Tommy
Burns and Jack Johnson), before acquiring Harry Rickards'
Tivoli vaudeville circuit in 1912 for £100,000.
In 1916 he acquired a controlling interest in the Sydney
Sunday Times company, publisher of the Sunday Times,
Referee and Arrow sports weeklies and
other publications. After success with large-scale stage
productions such as Chu Chin Chow he sold the
Tivoli circuit (later acquired by JC Williamsons) and
moved to Lord Kitchener's former estate at Broome Park
in England, famously relaying its cricket pitch with soil
imported from NSW.
He sold the Sunday Times, Arrow and
Referee to Beckett's Newspapers Ltd (controlled
by William Beckett) in 1927, having apparently treated
the company as a personal cash dispenser. He bought the
Tivoli Theatre in Sydney in 1928, apparently on promises.
The Tivoli was in liquidation by the end of 1930, with
McIntosh going bankrupt in 1932 after unsuccessful plans
to breed angora rabbits at Broome Park, run a cake shop
and promote fights.
A comeback through establishment of the Black & White
Milk Bar chain - typically launched from a base in Fleet
Street during 1935 - collapsed in 1938 after overexpansion.
Beckett's Newspapers Ltd foundered in 1929, with the individual
papers closing during the next decade or passing to the
control of Labor Newspapers (controlled by ex-premier
Jack Lang) before being acquired by the Telegraph under
the control of the Packer family.
studies
A concise account of Associated, Beckett and Smiths
is provided by RB Walker's Yesterday's News: A History
of the Newspaper Press in New South Wales from 1920 to
1945 (Sydney: Sydney Uni Press 1980).
There have been no major biographies of Bennett, Denison,
McIntosh or Joynton Smith. Serviceable accounts are found
in the Australian Dictionary of Biography Vols
3, 8, 10 and 12 (Carlton: Melbourne Uni Press). Joynton
Smith's My Life Story (Sydney: Cornstalk 1927)
was ghosted by Smith's Weekly editor Claude McKay
(1878-1972). This Is The Life - Remember Smith's Weekly?:
a biography of an uninhibited national Australian newspaper,
born 1 March 1919, died 28 October 1950 (Adelaide:
Rigby 1975) is a serviceable account by George Blaikie.
A perspective on McIntosh is provided by Frank Van Straten's
Tivoli (Melbourne: Lothian 2003). Victor
Isaacs' Looking Good: The Changing Appearance of Australian
Newspapers (Mt Ommaney: Aust Newspaper History Group
2007) is of value in considering the Associated titles
and their peers.
chronology
This chronology is indicative only. Context is provided
by the broader communications and media timeline
on this site.
1859 Hanson & Bennett launch The Empire
1867 launch The Sunday Empire
1867 Bennett launches Sydney Evening News
1870 launches Town & Country Journal
1875 The Empire closes
1885 Sydney Sunday Times established
1886 Referee sporting weekly founded
1892 Bennett family launches Illustrated Sydney News
1894 Illustrated Sydney News closed
1903 British Australasian Tobacco Co Ltd established with
Hugh Dixon as Director
1906 Bennett family launches The Womans Budget
1907 Hugh Dixon changes name to Hugh Denison
1908 Hugh McIntosh organises world heavyweight boxing
championship between Jack Johnson and Tommy Burns
1910 Denison forms Sun Newspaper Company, acquires Sydney
Australian Star (relaunched as The Sun broadsheet)
1910 Bennett family launches The Week's News
1912 McIntosh gains control of Tivoli theatre circuit
for £100,000 after death of Harry Rickards
1912 The Weeks News closes
1913 Denison becomes Managing Director of Amalgamated
Wireless (Australasia) Ltd (AWA)
1915 McIntosh gains control of Sunday Times
1919 Sydney Sunday News launched
1919 Illustrated Sydney News closes
1919 Australian Town & Country Journal ceases
1919 Sydney Smith's Weekly launched by James
Joynton Smith, with Robert Packer
as Manager
1919 Smith knighted
1921
Denison knighted
1921 Musgrove gains control of Tivoli circuit
1921 Minahan launches Sydney Daily Mail
1922 Sun launches Melbourne morning Sun News Pictorial
1922 Herald & Weekly Times (H&WT)
under Keith Murdoch fails in bid to control Sydney Evening
News, which is reconstructed as Samuel Bennett Ltd
1923 Sun launches Melbourne Evening Sun
1923 Smith establishes Sydney Daily Guardian
1923 ailing Daily Mail absorbed by Labor Papers
Ltd as Labor Daily
1924 JC Williamsons gains control of Tivoli circuit as
Tivoli Vaudeville Pty Ltd
1924 Evening News pioneers crossword puzzles
in Australia
1925 Melbourne Evening Sun sold to H&WT
1925 Daily Guardian launches Miss Australia contest
1927 Sydney Telegraph becomes Daily Telegraph
News Pictorial (later Daily Pictorial)
1927 Sun buys Sydney Daily Telegraph News Pictorial
1927 McIntosh loses control of Sunday Times,
Arrow and Referee to William Beckett's
Beckett's Newspapers Ltd
1927 Beckett's Newspapers launches Beckett's Budget
1928 Bennetts launch Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic
News
1929 Beckett's Newspapers goes bankrupt
1929 Sun Newspapers and Samuel Bennett merge as Associated
Newspapers
1929 Sydney Sunday Guardian launched
1929 receivers sell Beckett's Budget to Labor
Daily Ltd
1930 Beckett's Budget relaunched as Australian
Budget
1930 Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic News
closes
1930 Sunday Times ceases
1930 Sunday News ceases
1930 Associated Newspapers buys Smith's Daily Guardian
and Sunday Guardian
1930 Associated buys weekly Arrow and Referee
1931 McIntosh goes bankrupt
1931 Daily Guardian merged with Daily Pictorial
as Daily Telegraph
1931 Sunday Guardian absorbed by Sunday Sun
1931 Associated's Sunday Pictorial ceases
1931 Sydney Daily Telegraph launched by Associated
1931 Robert Packer becomes General
Manager of Associated
1931 Evening News ceases
1931 Smith buys Robert & Frank Packer's preference
shares in Associated
1932 Frank Packer and former federal Treasurer Ted Theodore
form Sydney Newspapers Ltd
1933 Australian Women's Weekly launched
1933 Arrow ceases
1934 Woman's Budget absorbed by Woman
1935 Australian Associated Press formed
1936 Packer and Theodore's Sydney Newspapers acquires
Daily Telegraph from Denison's Associated Newspapers
(owner of Sydney), forming Consolidated Press Ltd
- later Australian Consolidated Press (ACP)
1938 Labor Daily becomes Daily News
1938 Denison founds Macquarie Broadcasting Services Ltd
1939 Referee ceases
1941 Daily News taken over by the Daily Telegraph
1947 The Sun relaunched as tabloid
1949 Sunday Herald launched by Fairfax
1950
Woman's Day and Home merged
1952 Woman's Day sold to Herald & Weekly Times
(H&WT)
1953 Fairfax buys Associated,
becomes publisher of Sydney Sun newspaper
1953 Sunday Herald and Sunday Sun merge
to form The Sun-Herald
1961 Fairfax buys 45% stake in Newcastle Morning Herald
and Newcastle Sun
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