{{Short description|Daily newspaper in Tasmania, Australia}} {{About||the California newspaper|The Mercury News|the Pennsylvania newspaper|The Mercury (Pennsylvania)|the Kansas newspaper|The Manhattan Mercury}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}} {{Use Australian English|date=December 2013}} {{Infobox newspaper |name = The Mercury |logo = Mercmasthead.png |image = Mercury-tasmania-9dec2006.jpg |caption = Front page of ''The Mercury'' on 9 December 2006 |type = Daily newspaper |format = Tabloid |founded = 1854 |owners = News Corp Australia |editor = Craig Herbert |circulation = 44,317 (Weekdays)<br />61,020 (Saturday)<br />58,148 (Sunday) |language = English |headquarters = Hobart, Tasmania, Australia |ISSN = 1039-9992 |website = [http://www.themercury.com.au/ www.themercury.com.au]}}
'''''The Mercury''''' is a daily newspaper, published in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia by News Corp Australia. The weekend issues of the paper are called '''''Mercury on Saturday''''' and '''''The Sunday Tasmanian'''''.
==History== The newspaper was founded on 5 July 1854 by George Auber Jones and John Davies. Two month John Davies became the sole owner.<ref>The Jubilee of The Mercury ''The Mercury'' 5 November 1995 page 4</ref> 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 ''Daily Telegraph'', ''The Mercury'', from March 1928, used the opportunity to increase their penetration there by expanding the branch office in Launceston, and by putting on "fast cars" to get the paper to Launceston by breakfast.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article24189745 |title=Newspaper Changes |newspaper=The Mercury |volume=CXXVIII |issue=18,845 |location=Hobart, Australia |date=30 March 1928 |access-date=20 May 2016 |page=8 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>
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 Limited. John Davies died on 11 June 1872, aged 58. The company remained in the family's hands until 1986 when the Herald & Weekly Times (HWT) acquired majority ownership.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Kilpatrick and Tanner|first=Rod and Stephen|date=2005|title=Australian Studies in Journalism: Tall timbers come down: End of Independence for Tasmania's daily press|url=https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:9466|website=UQ eSpace}}</ref> In 1988 News Limited acquired the HWT, and then the remaining minority interests.
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'':<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.mercurynie.com.au/print_museum/editors.htm |title=Editors |access-date=11 December 2013 |archive-date=23 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140223010153/http://mercurynie.com.au/print_museum/editors.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>
{| class="wikitable" !Order !! Name !! Commencement date !! Term ended !! Term of office !! Reference |- |align="center"|{{nts|1}} || William Coote ||align="center"| 1854 ||align="center"| 1857 ||align="right"| {{age in years|1854|1857}} years || |- |align="center"|{{nts|2}} || Samuel Prout Hill ||align="center"| 1857 ||align="center"| 1861 ||align="right"| {{age in years|1857|1861}} years || |- |align="center"|{{nts|3}} || Thomas Lockyer Bright ||align="center"| 1854 ||align="center"| 1857 ||align="right"| {{age in years|1863|1864}} years || |- |align="center"|{{nts|4}} || James Allen ||align="center"| 1865 ||align="center"| 1865 ||align="right"| {{age in years|1865|1865}} years || |- |align="center"|{{nts|(3)}} || Thomas Lockyer Bright ||align="center"| 1865 ||align="center"| 1868 ||align="right"| {{age in years|1865|1868}} years || |- |align="center"|{{nts|5}} || John Donnellan Balfe ||align="center"| 1868 ||align="center"| 1868 ||align="right"| {{age in years|1868|1868}} years || |- |align="center"|{{nts|6}} || James C. Patterson ||align="center"| 1868 ||align="center"| 1868 ||align="right"| {{age in years|1868|1868}} years || |- |align="center"|{{nts|7}} || James Simpson ||align="center"| 1868 ||align="center"| 1883 ||align="right"| {{age in years|1868|1883}} years ||<ref>{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article52022222 |title=TASMANIA.|newspaper=The Morning Bulletin|location=Rockhampton, Qld.|date=18 October 1880|access-date=11 December 2013|page=3|via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> |- |align="center"|{{nts|8}} || Henry Richard Nicholls ||align="center"| 1883 ||align="center"| 1912 ||align="right"| {{age in years|1883|1912}} years ||<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|author=Bate, Weston |url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/nicholls-henry-richard-4438 |title=Nicholls, Henry Richard (1830–1912) |chapter=Henry Richard Nicholls (1830–1912) |encyclopedia=Australian Dictionary of Biography |publisher=Australian National University }}</ref> |- |align="center"|{{nts|9}} || William Henry Simmonds ||align="center"| 1912 ||align="center"| 1931 ||align="right"| {{age in years|1912|1931}} years ||<ref>{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article55602351|title=W. H. Simmonds|newspaper=The Morning Bulletin|location=Rockhampton, Qld.|date=21 September 1934|access-date=11 December 2013|page=11|via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> |- |align="center"|{{nts|10}} || Frederick Usher ||align="center"| 1931 ||align="center"| 1943 ||align="right"| {{age in years|1931|1943}} years ||<ref>{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article33224172|title=Personal |newspaper=The West Australian|location=Perth|date=8 December 1930|access-date=11 December 2013|page=8|via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> |- |align="center"|{{nts|11}} || Charles Ellis "C. E." Davies ||align="center"| 1944 ||align="center"| 1954 ||align="right"| {{age in years|1931|1943}} years ||<ref>{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article26004929|title=Mr C. E. Davies Appointed Managing Editor Of "The Mercury".|newspaper=The Mercury|location=Hobart, Tasmania|date=1 January 1944|access-date=11 December 2013|page=3|via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> |- |align="center"|{{nts|12}} || Roy E. Shone ||align="center"| 1954 ||align="center"| 1970 ||align="right"| {{age in years|1954|1970}} years || |- |align="center"|{{nts|13}} || Dennis Newton Hawker ||align="center"| 1970 ||align="center"| 1982 ||align="right"| {{age in years|1970|1982}} years || |- |align="center"|{{nts|14}} || T. C. Malcolm Williams ||align="center"| 1982 ||align="center"| 1984 ||align="right"| {{age in years|1982|1984}} years || |- |align="center"|{{nts|15}} || James "Jim" Burns ||align="center"| 1984 ||align="center"| 1986 ||align="right"| {{age in years|1984|1986}} years || |- |align="center"|{{nts|16}} || Barry Dargaville ||align="center"| 1986 ||align="center"| 1988 ||align="right"| {{age in years|1986|1988}} years || |- |align="center"|{{nts|17}} || Ian McCausland ||align="center"| 1988 ||align="center"| 2001 ||align="right"| {{age in years|1988|2001}} years || |- |align="center"|{{nts|18}} || Garry Bailey ||align="center"| November 2001 ||align="center"| 5 January 2012 ||align="right"| {{age in years and days|2001|11|1|2012|01|05}} ||<ref name=holman>[http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2011/12/23/286911_tasmania-news.html Cairns editor for the Mercury], ''Mercury'' website.</ref> |- |align="center"|{{nts|19}} || Andrew Holman ||align="center"| January 2012 ||align="center"| January 2014 ||align="right"| {{age in years|2012|2014}} years ||<ref name=holman/> |- |align="center"|{{nts|20}} || Matt Deighton ||align="center"| January 2014 ||align="center"| 25 October 2017 ||align="right"| {{age in years and days|2014|01|22|2017|10|25}} ||<ref>[http://www.themercury.com.au/news/tasmania/news-appoints-matt-deighton-as-new-mercury-editor/story-fnj4f7k1-1226808043270 News appoints Matt Deighton as new Mercury editor], ''Mercury'' website. Retrieved 25 January 2014.</ref> |- |align="center"|{{nts|21}} || Chris Jones ||align="center"| 25 October 2017 ||align="center"| 13 January 2020 || align="right" |{{age in years and days|2017|10|25|2020|01|13}} ||<ref>[http://www.themercury.com.au/news/tasmania/chris-jones-appointed-as-editor-of-the-mercury/news-story/a73d1bbcbbb378412d33b5340796ffc5 Chris Jones appointed as editor of the Mercury], ''Mercury'' website. Retrieved 28 October 2017.</ref> |- |align="center"|{{nts|22}} || Jenna Cairney ||align="center"| 13 January 2020 ||align="center"| 28 October 2021 || align="right" |{{age in years and days|2020|01|13|2021|10|28}} ||<ref>[https://www.themercury.com.au/news/tasmania/new-mercury-editor-announced-by-news-corporation-executive-chairman-michael-miller/news-story/817909162ad9c78cf7243a2017f79f9d New Mercury editor announced by News Corporation executive chairman Michael Miller], ''Mercury'' website. Retrieved 14 January 2020.</ref> |- |align="center"|{{nts|22a}} || Brad Petersen (acting) ||align="center"| 28 October 2021 ||align="center"| 30 January 2022 || align="right" |{{age in years and days|2021|10|28|2022|01|30}} ||<ref>[ Jenna Cairney to take on new role with Tasmanian Government], Telum Media, 29 October 2021.</ref> |- |align="center"|{{nts|23}} || Craig Warhurst ||align="center"| 31 January 2022 ||align="center"| 4 July 2023 || align="right" | {{age in years and days|2022|01|31|2023|07|4}} ||<ref>[ Warhurst to lead the Mercury], Telum Media, 2 December 2021.</ref> |- |align="center"|{{nts|23a}} || Brad Petersen (acting) ||align="center"| 5 July 2023 ||align="center"| 17 July 2023 || align="right" |{{age in years and days|2023|07|05|2023|07|18}} || |- |align="center"|{{nts|24}} || Craig Herbert ||align="center"| 18 July 2023 ||align="center"| current || align="right" | ||<ref>[ People], Australian Newspaper History Group, No. 123, July 2023.</ref> |}
==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.<ref>[http://www.news.com.au/mercury/story/0,22884,22131994-921,00.html $31m press upgrade for Mercury] ''The Mercury'' 25 July 2007</ref>
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.<ref>[http://www.gxpress.net/tassie-tough-news-hobart-site-in-detail-cms-830 Tassie tough: News' Hobart site in detail], gxpress website, 1 September 2009.</ref> 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<ref>[https://www.examiner.com.au/story/8645866/examiner-advocate-newspapers-not-affected-by-press-site-proposal/ Examiner, Advocate newspapers not affected by press site proposal] ''The Examiner'' 31 May 2024.</ref> resulted in the printing and distribution of titles such as ''The Examiner'' and ''The Advocate'' 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== [[File:Hobart Mercury building.JPG|thumb|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 Street headquarters in August 2012, leasing a new office at 2 Salamanca Square.<ref>[http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2011/11/17/277595_real-estate-news.html Mercury on the move], ''The Mercury'' 17 November 2011</ref> 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.<ref>[http://www.newsnn.net/2010/12/gazette-office-closes-but-paper-carries.html Gazette office closes but paper carries on], New Norfolk News 22 December 2010</ref> 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<ref>[http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2013/05/16/379345_tasmania-news.html Buyer inks deal on landmark], ''The Mercury'' 16 May 2013.</ref> including the heritage-listed Ingle Hall, which was built in 1814 and housed the Mercury Print Museum. The Macquarie Street and Argyle Street frontages of the Mercury building were heritage listed in 2012<ref>[http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-12-03/heritage-listing-for-mercury-building/4404834 Heritage listing for Mercury building], ABC News 2 December 2012</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.themercury.com.au/news/tasmania/a-new-creative-hub-breathes-life-into-old-mercury-building/news-story/6e8f2ee5a623ec8f11c17b3cf6adfb05 |title=A new creative hub breathes life into old Mercury building |first=Duncan |last=Abey |newspaper=The Mercury |date=19 September 2013 |access-date=19 June 2019}}</ref> It is now used for a restaurant and the Detached Artist Archive, a private gallery.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/review/home-is-where-her-art-is/news-story/81c2365f720c6612aa590c4f9b5382eb |newspaper=The Australian |title=Australia's best kept cultural secret |first=Rosemary |last=Neill |date=2 June 2019 |access-date=19 June 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.brandtasmania.com/tourism-stories/?item=924 |title=Are the Arts subverting Hobart? |work=Tourism stories |publisher=Brand Tasmania |access-date=19 June 2019}}</ref>
From early 2013, the Mercury's Salamanca Square office hosted the Tasmanian bureaus of The Australian and Sky News.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://tvtonight.com.au/2012/12/sky-news-to-open-hobart-base.html/|title=SKY News to open Hobart base |website=Tvtonight.com.au|date=7 December 2012 |access-date=27 November 2021}}</ref> 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,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://dsf.newscorpaustralia.com/theaustralian/subscription/|title=Subscribe to The Australian |website=Dsf.newscorpaustralia.com|access-date=27 November 2021}}</ref> 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.<ref>[http://www.newsspace.com.au/the_mercury Facts: Mercury] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719172232/http://www.newsspace.com.au/the_mercury |date=19 July 2011 }}, NewsSpace, March 2011. Retrieved 13 July 2011.</ref> The ''Sunday Tasmanian'' reported circulation of 58,148 with readership of 129,000.<ref>[http://www.newsspace.com.au/the_sunday_tasmanian Facts: Sunday Tasmanian] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721083253/http://www.newsspace.com.au/the_sunday_tasmanian |date=21 July 2011 }}, NewsSpace, March 2011. Retrieved 13 July 2011.</ref>
==''The Tasmanian Mail''== '''''The Tasmanian Mail''''' was a weekly newspaper published by ''The Mercury'' from July 1877 to June 1935.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article30093208 |title=Sixty Years of Service |newspaper=The Mercury (Hobart) |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=28 June 1935 |access-date=28 April 2020 |page=8 |via=Trove }}</ref> It employed a separate staff from that which brought out the ''Mercury'', and was intended to cover the whole of the state.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8953831 |title=The New Weekly Newspaper |newspaper=The Mercury (Hobart) |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=13 June 1877 |access-date=28 April 2020 |page=2 |via=Trove }}</ref> From 7 April 1921 it was published as ''The Illustrated Tasmanian Mail''.
The following people were editors of the ''Mail'':
{| class="wikitable" !Order !! Name !! Commencement date !! Term ended !! Term of office !! Reference |- |align="center"|{{nts|1}} || James Patterson ||align="center"| June 1877 ||align="center"| TBC ||align="right"| ||<ref name="Illustrated Tasmanian Mail' 1935, page 43">''Illustrated Tasmanian Mail'' 27 June 1935, page 43, 'The Illustrated Mail's Passing Pageant'</ref> |- |align="center"|{{nts|2}} || ? Davies ||align="center"| TBC ||align="center"| TBC ||align="right"| ||<ref name="Illustrated Tasmanian Mail' 1935, page 43"/> |- |align="center"|{{nts|3}} || F. Humphries ||align="center"| TBC ||align="center"| TBC ||align="right"| ||<ref name="Illustrated Tasmanian Mail' 1935, page 43"/> |- |align="center"|{{nts|4}} || F. Carrington ||align="center"| TBC ||align="center"| TBC ||align="right"| ||<ref name="Illustrated Tasmanian Mail' 1935, page 43"/> |- |align="center"|{{nts|5}} || Charles James Fox ||align="center"| 1883 ||align="center"| June 1888 ||align="right"| {{age in years|1883|1888}} years || <ref name="Illustrated Tasmanian Mail' 1935, page 43"/><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article163542592 |title=Shipping |newspaper=Tasmanian News |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=20 June 1888 |access-date=28 April 2020 |page=3 |via=Trove }}</ref> |- |align="center"|{{nts|6}} || G. B. Edwards ||align="center"| 1888 ||align="center"| TBC ||align="right"| ||<ref name="Illustrated Tasmanian Mail' 1935, page 43"/> |- |align="center"|{{nts|7}} || F. W. Moore ||align="center"| TBC ||align="center"| TBC ||align="right"| ||<ref name="Illustrated Tasmanian Mail' 1935, page 43"/> |- |align="center"|{{nts|8}} || G. E. Langridge ||align="center"| TBC ||align="center"| TBC ||align="right"| ||<ref name="Illustrated Tasmanian Mail' 1935, page 43"/> |- |align="center"|{{nts|9}} || J. M. Day ||align="center"| TBC ||align="center"| TBC ||align="right"| ||<ref name="Illustrated Tasmanian Mail' 1935, page 43"/> |- |align="center"|{{nts|10}} || David Black ||align="center"| TBC ||align="center"| TBC ||align="right"| || <ref name="Illustrated Tasmanian Mail' 1935, page 43"/> |- |align="center"|{{nts|11}} || Ronald Smith ||align="center"| TBC ||align="center"| TBC ||align="right"| ||<ref name="Illustrated Tasmanian Mail' 1935, page 43"/> |- |align="center"|{{nts|12}} || Edwin Ings ||align="center"| TBC ||align="center"| TBC ||align="right"| || <ref name="Illustrated Tasmanian Mail' 1935, page 43"/> |- |align="center"|{{nts|13}} || P. H. Thurston ||align="center"| TBC ||align="center"| TBC ||align="right"| || <ref name="Illustrated Tasmanian Mail' 1935, page 43"/> |- |align="center"|{{nts|14}} || Fred Usher ||align="center"| TBC ||align="center"| 1922 ||align="right"| || <ref name="Illustrated Tasmanian Mail' 1935, page 43"/> |- |align="center"|{{nts|15}} || Constance Cummins ||align="center"| 1922 ||align="center"| 1931 ||align="right"| {{age in years|1922|1931}} years || <ref name="Illustrated Tasmanian Mail' 1935, page 43"/> |- |align="center"|{{nts|16}} || J. E. Thorp ||align="center"| 1931 ||align="center"| 1935 ||align="right"| {{age in years|1931|1935}} years || <ref name="Illustrated Tasmanian Mail' 1935, page 43"/> |}
==Endorsements== {| class="wikitable" ! National election ! colspan="2" | Endorsement |- | 2010 | {{party name with colour|Australian Labor Party}} |- | 2013 | {{party name with colour|Coalition (Australia)}} |- | 2016 | {{party name with colour|Coalition (Australia)}} |- | 2019 | No endorsement |- | 2022 | No endorsement |- | 2025 |No endorsement |- |}
==See also== *List of newspapers in Tasmania
==Notes== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{Official website|http://www.themercury.com.au/}} * {{trove newspaper|10|The Mercury|Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954}} * {{trove newspaper|31|The Hobarton Mercury|Tas. : 1854 - 1857}} * {{trove newspaper|32|The Hobart Town Mercury|Tas. : 1857}} * {{trove newspaper|33|The Hobart Town Daily Mercury|Tas. : 1858 - 1860}}
{{News Corp Australia}} {{Southern Tasmania}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mercury}} Category:Daily newspapers published in Australia Category:News Corp Australia Category:Newspapers established in 1854 Category:Newspapers in Hobart, Tasmania Category:Newspapers on Trove Category:1854 establishments in Australia