The Courier-Mail
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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 Front page of The Courier-Mail on 12 December 2005 |
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| Type | Daily newspaper |
| Format | Tabloid (Broadsheet before March 13, 2006) |
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| Owner | News Corporation |
| Editor | David Fagan |
| Founded | 1933 |
| Political allegiance | Conservative |
| Headquarters | 41 Campbell Street, Bowen Hills QLD 4000 |
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| Website: news.com.au/couriermail | |
The Courier-Mail is the only daily newspaper published in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Owned by News Corporation, it is published daily from Monday to Saturday in tabloid format. Its editorial offices are located at Bowen Hills, in Brisbane's inner northern suburbs, and it is printed at Murarrie, in Brisbane's eastern suburbs.
The first edition of The Courier-Mail was published on August 28, 1933 after a merger of The Brisbane Courier (founded as The Moreton Bay Courier on June 20, 1846) and The Daily Mail (first published on October 3, 1903). This merger was necessitated by the Great Depression which had caused both papers to make financial losses.
Like most newspapers owned by News Corporation, The Courier-Mail generally supports free market economic policies and the process of globalisation. It supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The quality of coverage is perceived to be more sensationalist and less serious compared to broadsheets such as The Sydney Morning Herald and The Australian. However, its journalism is not as lurid or populist as other Australian tabloids such as The Daily Telegraph in Sydney.
The Courier-Mail has the fourth-highest circulation of any daily newspaper in Australia and had the second-highest circulation of any Australian broadsheet, until it became a tabloid on the 13th of March 2006, with 211,279 sales per weekday. 333,910 copies are sold on Saturdays. Around three-quarters of The Courier-Mail's readership is located in the Brisbane metropolitan area.
A copy of The Courier-Mail costs $1.00 on weekdays and $1.80 on Saturdays.
Prominent journalists and columnists include Nicholas Gruen, Terry Sweetman and Hedley Thomas. Its current Editor is David Fagan, who is married to columnist and 612 ABC Brisbane radio broadcaster Madonna King. Its editorial cartoonist is Sean Leahy.
On December 14, 2005 it was announced that The Courier-Mail would move from broadsheet to tabloid format sometime in early 2006. The last broadsheet edition was published on Saturday, March 11, 2006 and the first tabloid edition was published on Monday, March 13, 2006, with a revamped and expanded website launched the same day.
The change to a more compact format brought The Courier-Mail in line with all other News Limited metropolitan daily newspapers in Australia. This followed the change to a tabloid format by The Advertiser of Adelaide, another News Corporation newspaper.
