Type Daily newspaper Owner(s) News Corp Australia Founded 8 February 1952 | Format Tabloid Editor Matt Williams Political alignment Conservative | |
The NT News is a morning tabloid newspaper based in Darwin, Australia. It is a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. It primarily serves Darwin and the rest of the Northern Territory. It covers local, national, and world news as well as sports and business.
The paper currently has a Monday to Friday readership average of 47,000, reaching an average of 55,000 on Saturdays.
News Corp Australia also publishes its local counterpart, The Sunday Territorian, which is also available throughout Darwin and the Northern Territory.
History
The first edition of the Northern Territory News was published on 8 February 1952, as a weekly tabloid, then twice weekly, building up to five days a week in 1964. In February 1975 publication reverted to five afternoons a week. The Saturday edition started again in 1979 and now all six papers are morning dailies.
The Northern Territory News was founded as a counterbalance to perceived pro-communist bias from the Northern Territory's only newspaper at the time the trade union owned The Northern Standard which soon folded. Originally the paper was quite politically active being a noted advocate of greater self-governance powers for the Northern Territory as well as being vocal on a number of other local issues. However, the paper gradually lapsed into the current apolitical stance it maintains presently with its most noted feature being its often colourful headlines and front pages.
The paper has become well known around Australia for its front page headlines with then-Deputy Editor Paul Dyer winning a Walkley Award for his contributions in 2012.
A book, What A Croc, featuring the paper's most popular front pages was released in 2014.