The Sun News-Pictorial

The Sun News-Pictorial, also known as The Sun, was a morning daily tabloid newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, established in 1922 and closed in 1990.

It was part of The Herald and Weekly Times stable of Melbourne newspapers. For more than fifty years it was the Australian newspaper with the largest circulation.

The Sun News-Pictorial

When Sir Keith Murdoch became editor-in-chief of The Herald in 1921, as well as shifting them to their iconic premises at 44-74 Flinders Street, he bought and closed their afternoon rival The Evening Sun. As a part of this deal, he took over the fledgling morning paper The Sun News-Pictorial. An early editor, who has been given much of the credit for the paper's success, was (later Sir) Lloyd Dumas.[1]

Circulation

The Sun News-Pictorial went on to become the highest-circulating daily in the country and at some points, the world, outselling its rivals three to one.

One very substantial reason for its high level of daily sales was that The Sun News-Pictorial offered a free life-insurance policy to each of those who subscribed for regular daily home delivery of the newspaper (i.e., rather than those who bought it spasmodically from street vendors or news-agents), and the insurance policy (valued at somewhere near 12 months average wages) was current for the duration of that household's subscription.[2]

Character

Along with its extensive coverage of Australian Rules football—e.g., it was responsible for the competition that produced the original VFL/AFL team songs—The Sun News-Pictorial distinguished itself with its photography, columns and cartoons. Its longest running column was A Place in the Sun, originally written by Keith Dunstan—founder of the Anti-Football League—and later Graeme "Jacko" Johnstone, and illustrated by award-winning cartoonist Geoff "Jeff" Hook whose trademark fish-hook hid in the day's cartoon.

Competition

The Sun News-Pictorial's main competitors were the broadsheets, The Argus, which was forced to close in 1957, and David Syme's more liberal-minded The Age newspaper.

1990 merger

On 8 October 1990, The Sun News-Pictorial was merged with its longer running sister publication, The Herald, an evening paper which had a 150-year history in Melbourne, to form the Herald Sun.

Notable journalists, columnists and editors

Montague Grover

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Sir Lloyd Dumas to retire.". The Canberra Times. National Library of Australia. 9 March 1967. p. 39. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  2. ↑ Message to Argus readers from The Sun News-Pictorial The Argus, final edition, 19 January 1957 at Trove


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