Rod Kirkpatrick

Half-century of printing

2009-07-29T20:17:00+01:00

Horace Burgess Harvey is the third part of the Burgess story that has been unfolding through this column and the fourth generation of the Burgess printing dynasty that was starting newspapers in New South Wales in the 1860s. Part 1 was told in May and Part 2 in June

From Bombala to Bundaberg

2009-06-16T20:11:00+01:00

“But wait, there’s more.” This could have been the qualification when a Rockhampton sub-editor wrote the headline for the retirement in 1991 of long-time printer, Horace Burgess Harvey: ‘Ink runs dry on four generations of news’

The Burgess printing dynasty

2009-05-23T18:42:00+01:00

This story has been waiting nearly six years to be written. It is a story that should be told because hot-metal and letterpress printers such as Horace Burgess Harvey will soon be extinct – especially printers who can claim a printing ancestry like this

From little acorns ...

2009-02-17T17:34:00+01:00

The Australian Newspaper History Group, which emerged from a conference on local newspapers and local identities at Chiltern in north-eastern Victoria in October 1999, is an example of whatindividuals rather than committees can achieve

Masthead change after 150 years

2008-11-07T13:44:03+01:00

The Adelaide Advertiser celebrated its 150th anniversary in July and changed its old masthead in September

From the country to the outback

2008-10-19T13:50:52+01:00

I flew out of Madrid ten days before that disastrous Spanair takeoff late in August when more than 150 people died. Spain was the last port of call on a 26-day overseas trip that took in Scotland, France, Belgium and Spain. From a newspaper perspective, I saw few publications bigger than tabloid format, and many in a smaller format (generally about 260mm by 185mm)

Pictorial treasures unearthed

2008-09-11T14:26:57+01:00

The approach of an anniversary at the SMH and the Age triggered special efforts to recall times past, and to unearth artefacts that speak powerfully of those times

Golden pills for lawyers

2008-08-29T16:09:15+01:00

Trust The Bulletin to get it right, and in only four words! “Golden pills for lawyers” – that was its comment when two south coast papers were sued for libel in 1884

Going to the wall

2008-06-16T19:41:00+01:00

Rod Kirkpatrick recounts some of the more interesting ways newspapers sued to drum up readers, and each other out of business.

The education of three journalists

2008-05-29T14:53:47+01:00

Meet Connie Ellis, three of whose children became journalists. Connie Ellis, born in London in 1860, migrated to Queensland in 1889 because she wanted a job in a new land. Her first job in Australia was as a ladies’ companion at Kyabra, an isolated town more than 1100km west of Brisbane.

Rupert and Morna report for duty

2008-04-08T20:17:54+01:00

With the vast volume of words that have been written about Rupert Murdoch in his seventy-seven years, you would think you would struggle to find a new anecdote about the man, but Rod Kirkpatrick comes up with the goods.

Kingmaker dead 100 years

2008-03-16T07:00:00+01:00

Australia's nineteenth-century press magnate, David Syme, died 100 years ago on February 14, and the Canberra-based Melburnian, Dr Elizabeth Morrison, who is working in a book about Syme, took special note. Here are some of the reflections she shared with the Australian Newspaper History Group

After the ball

2008-02-09T04:18:40+01:00

It’s amazing what is tucked away in our libraries. For example, there is Mrs Butters’ extraordinary Press Dress, which was donated to the Pictures Collection of the State Library of Victoria in 1951. It has undergone extensive conservation recently.

In blushes or in tears

2008-01-24T13:00:00+01:00

Protruding from the façade of a Fleet Street building today is a bust of T.P. O’Connor, journalist and politician, carrying this statement: “His pen could lay bare the bones of a book or the soul of a statesman in a few vivid lines.”

Icing on the cake

2007-11-14T15:00:00+01:00

Although I never worked in Fleet Street, at least I can now say that I have walked Fleet Street.

Bad news slashes advertising

2007-10-01T14:00:00+01:00

During the two world wars of the 20th century, newspaper economics was turned on its head, especially when it came to newsprint. Stocks were scarce and the price rocketed.

How Gutenberg set up type

2007-09-02T14:00:00+01:00

Rod Kirkpatrick steps back in time down the cobble-stoned streets of Mainz to watch a 15th century typesetting demonstration at the Gutenberg Museum.

Newspaper ghost towns

2007-07-11T14:00:00+01:00

Visiting the country towns where pioneering newspapers operated is always fascinating, but if the town no longer boasts a newspaper the fascination is tinged with sadness.

When it is hot for the critic

2007-04-04T00:51:27+01:00

Newspaper editors never ran short of difficulties, according to the Burrangong Chronicle, Young, 1874.

Editor's turbulent spirit

2007-03-15T13:00:00+01:00

One man, John Hoolan, and one journal, his Mundic Miner, reflected the turbulent spirit that drove Labor journals in Queensland in the 1890s.

Slugging it out on the field

2007-03-12T20:21:18+01:00

I entered journalism because I had dreams of one day becoming a sports writer and covering Australian cricket tours of England, just like Tom Goodman (Sydney Morning Herald) or Ernie Christensen (Sydney Sun). My dream changed over the years, but I still love cricket – and newspapers.

On top of his words

2006-07-12T07:00:00+01:00

At the young age of 66, George Westacott began his 10-year stint as Rockhampton’s Morning Bulletin editor, taking both the newspaper and himself to high acclaim.

The sparkle and tang of life

2006-06-09T07:00:00+01:00

The role of the newspaper reporter has been percieved in varied ways in the past. Many journalists have driven the industry forward with their various quirks.

Who runs second to 'Granny' Herald?

2006-04-03T07:00:00+01:00

The Sydney Morning Herald will be 175 years old on April 18, a reminder that no Australian newspaper that began publication before 1831 now survives

Getting your date of birth right

2006-03-06T06:00:00+01:00

How can a newspaper celebrate its centenary when it can’t seem to figure out its birthday?

Before the press kisses them

2006-02-19T06:00:00+01:00

Rod Kirkpatrick uncovers a printer’s personal ode to lead type in a WWII-era Jersualem newspaper

Troubles of pioneering editors

2005-12-15T06:00:00+01:00

Frontier newspapers, the Americans called them, and frontier editors, in the American wild west from the 1850s to 1890s, were as rough and tough with words as they had to be with guns, whips or fists

Edited with a pair of scissors

2005-11-23T06:00:00+01:00

It was conventional for 19th century Australian newspapers to publish scissors-and-paste journalism: duly acknowledged extracts from other newspapers, whether colonial or overseas. The newspaper proprietors were mimicking the practice of their British and American counterparts

Two 150-year anniversaries

2005-10-17T07:00:00+01:00

There are two significant sesqui-centenaries for provincial newspapers in Australia this month. The Illawarra Mercury, Wollongong, is 150 years old on October 8 and will be only the second NSW provincial title to reach that age

Thereby hangs a tale

2005-09-09T07:00:00+01:00

Kirkpatrick is intrigued by a photograph with historical newspaper significance acquired from a successful bid on eBay.