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The Barrier Daily Truth was a local newspaper for the mining town of Broken Hill in New South Wales, Australia.
| Type | Daily newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Tabloid |
| Owner(s) | Barrier Industrial Council |
| Editor | Tony Bosworth [1] |
| Founded | 1897 |
| Ceased publication | 2024 |
| Headquarters | 179 Blende Street, Broken Hill, NSW, Australia |
| Website | barriertruth |
It covered a range of stories that affect local residents, including industrial news relating to the mines and stories submitted by readers such as local sport stories. The paper also covered national news events of importance. It was owned by the Barrier Industrial Council and was one of the few small newspapers in Australia to remain locally owned.
History
editThe Barrier Truth started in 1898[2] as a weekly English language news sheet. It was printed by Thomas Nicholls, for the proprietor Nicholas James Buzacott from 1898 to 1908.[3] Initially it was printed in Adelaide until 10 September 1898 and it began to be printed locally in Broken Hill.
In 1899 the news sheet format was abandoned in favour of a proper newspaper, and in July 1899 the newspaper became owned by the Barrier District Australasian Labor Federation and was published by William Arthur Jones. At this time it became the official organ of the Barrier District Council of the Australian Labor Federation. Later the owner became the Barrier Industrial Council.
Between 1899 and 1902 the paper published very little other than local news and general Labour news. In 1902 a women's section was added to the paper, and sporting news and racing results were also included in the paper. This had the effect of doubling the paper's circulation in about nine months.
The paper changed its name to the Barrier Daily Truth in 1908 and Volume 1, number 1 under the new title was published on 2 November 1908.[2] The masthead on that first issue reads: Barrier Daily Truth with which is incorporated the Barrier Truth, established 1898. At this time the paper also changed from a weekly to a daily publication.[2]
Construction began on the building in which the Barrier Daily Truth currently resides on 31 October 1904. It was completed in February 1905 and a second story added in 1908. In the late 1970s the building was refurbished to house a modern offset press.
From 1941 to 1951 the Barrier Daily Truth also published Wilcannia's weekly newspaper Western Grazier.
On Saturday, 28 March 2020, within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Barrier Daily Truth suspended daily publication. Staff volunteered to produce a weekly newspaper and then received payment via the Australian Government's Jobkeeper program.[4]
By March 2024, the paper had reduced its output by four pages per edition due to staffing shortages. A month later the paper was shuttered.[5][6]
Digitisation
editSome issues of the paper published in 1908, and many issues published between 1941 and 1954 have been digitised as part of the Australian Newspapers Digitisation Program,[7] a project of the National Library of Australia in cooperation with the State Library of New South Wales.[8]
References
edit- ^ "Contact - Barrier Truth". Retrieved 31 October 2023.
- ^ a b c Kirkpatrick, Rod (2000). Country Conscience: a history of the New South Wales provincial press, 1841-1995. Canberra City: Infinite Harvest Publishing. pp. 126, 207–208. ISBN 0646402706.
- ^ "The Barrier Truth". SLNSW catalogue. State Library of New South Wales. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
- ^ Chenery, Susan; McGregor, Lisa (8 November 2020). "When COVID-19 shut down this town's century-old newspaper, they had to act". ABC News. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
- ^ "'A lot of stories that will now go untold': outback NSW newspaper closes after almost 130 years". The Guardian. 19 April 2024. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
- ^ Filley, Otis (18 May 2024). "From mining to Meta: the slow decline of Broken Hill's only newspaper". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
- ^ "Newspaper Digitisation Program". National Library of Australia. Archived from the original on 2 July 2015. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
- ^ "Digitising our collections". Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 3 April 2014.