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The Mercury (Hobart)
Encyclopedia
The Mercury is a daily newspaper
, published in Hobart
, Tasmania
, Australia
, by Davies Brothers Pty Ltd, part of News Limited
and News Corporation
. The weekend issues of the paper are called Mercury on Saturday and Sunday Tasmanian.
and 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.
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 1988, when it was taken over by News Limited
, a subsidiary of News Corporation
.
Other Tasmanian titles published by the company are the weekly rural newspaper Tasmanian Country, the weekly regional newspaper The Gazette, and the monthly travel magazine Treasure Island.
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 first Sunday circulations in southern Tasmania, known as the Sunday Tasmanian which still exists today.
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 appears monthly within the Sunday Tasmanian. This was followed in June 2007 by the Northern Times with news from Hobart's northern suburbs.
Since November 2001 the Editor of the Mercury and Sunday Tasmanian has been Garry Bailey.
Davies Brothers will develop the centre at Technopark, north of Hobart. It will replace the 35-year-old press housed in the Argyle Street wing of the company's city site. All other operations of the newspaper group will continue to be based in the heart of the city at 93 Macquarie Street.
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
, published in Hobart
Hobart
Hobart is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Founded in 1804 as a penal colony,Hobart is Australia's second oldest capital city after Sydney. In 2009, the city had a greater area population of approximately 212,019. A resident of Hobart is known as...
, Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, by Davies Brothers Pty Ltd, part of News Limited
News Limited
News Limited is one of Australia's largest diversified media companies. The publicly listed company's interests span newspaper and magazine publishing, Internet, Pay TV, National Rugby League, market research, DVD and film distribution, and film and television production trading assets.News Limited...
and News Corporation
News Corporation
News Corporation or News Corp. is an American multinational media conglomerate. It is the world's second-largest media conglomerate as of 2011 in terms of revenue, and the world's third largest in entertainment as of 2009, although the BBC remains the world's largest broadcaster...
. The weekend issues of the paper are called Mercury on Saturday and Sunday Tasmanian.
History
The newspaper was started on 5 July 1854 by George Auber Jones and John DaviesJohn Davies (publisher)
John Davies co-founded the Australian newspaper The Mercury.Davies was a Jew born in London. He was transported to Hobart, Australia as a convict in August 1831, for ordering candles on someone else's account...
and 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.
After Davies' retirement in 1871, the business was carried on by his sons John George Davies
John George Davies
Sir John George Davies CMG was a Tasmanian politician, newspaper proprietor and first-class cricketer.Davies' Jewish father John Snr. and grandfather had been transported to Australia as convicts and Davies was born in Melbourne to John Snr...
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 1988, when it was taken over by News Limited
News Limited
News Limited is one of Australia's largest diversified media companies. The publicly listed company's interests span newspaper and magazine publishing, Internet, Pay TV, National Rugby League, market research, DVD and film distribution, and film and television production trading assets.News Limited...
, a subsidiary of News Corporation
News Corporation
News Corporation or News Corp. is an American multinational media conglomerate. It is the world's second-largest media conglomerate as of 2011 in terms of revenue, and the world's third largest in entertainment as of 2009, although the BBC remains the world's largest broadcaster...
.
Other Tasmanian titles published by the company are the weekly rural newspaper Tasmanian Country, the weekly regional newspaper The Gazette, and the monthly travel magazine Treasure Island.
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 first Sunday circulations in southern Tasmania, known as the Sunday Tasmanian which still exists today.
At various stages in its history there have been limited experiments with regional papers—such as The Westerner which succeeded The West Coast Miner
The West Coast Miner
The West Coast Miner was a fortnightly newspaper for the West Coast Tasmanian community, based in Queenstown from December 1975 to 1978. It was originally funded by community arts funding from the Australian Commonwealth Government, and was housed at the Adult Education Office in Queenstown. Jim...
in 1979 to serve the West Coast
West Coast, Tasmania
The West Coast of Tasmania is the part of the state that is strongly associated with wilderness, mining and tourism, rough country and isolation...
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 appears monthly within the Sunday Tasmanian. This was followed in June 2007 by the Northern Times with news from Hobart's northern suburbs.
Since November 2001 the Editor of the Mercury and Sunday Tasmanian has been Garry Bailey.
Future
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. It will include the installation of the latest full-colour press.Davies Brothers will develop the centre at Technopark, north of Hobart. It will replace the 35-year-old press housed in the Argyle Street wing of the company's city site. All other operations of the newspaper group will continue to be based in the heart of the city at 93 Macquarie Street.