The Press

History

Origins

James FitzGerald came to Lyttelton on the Charlotte Jane in December 1850, and was from January 1851 the first editor of the Lyttelton Times, Canterbury's first newspaper. From 1853, he focussed on politics and withdrew from the Lyttelton Times. After several years in England, he returned to Canterbury concerned about the proposed capital works programme of the provincial government, with his chief concern the proposed rail tunnel connecting Christchurch and Lyttelton, which he thought of as fiscally irresponsible, but supported by his old newspaper, the Lyttelton Times. The newspaper's editor, Crosbie Ward, made an imputation of unknown content, and this spurred FitzGerald to set up The Press as a rival newspaper.

FitzGerald had dinner with John Watts-Russell, who put up £500 on the condition that FitzGerald would be in charge of the new newspaper. Next, he enlisted the support of the Rev. John Raven, who organised many of the practical aspects, like organising a printer and a printing press. Other members of the early committee that organised The Press were Henry Porcher Lance (brother of James Dupré Lance), Henry Tancred, and Richard J. S. Harman; all of them were colonial gentry.

The Press was first published on 25 May 1861 from a small cottage, making it the oldest surviving newspaper in the South Island of New Zealand. The cottage belonged to Raven on land known as Raven's paddock on the west side of Montreal Street, between Worcester and Gloucester Streets, opposite the present-day Christchurch Art Gallery. The first edition was a six-page tabloid and was sold for sixpence. The paper continued as a weekly. The public saw FitzGerald as the proprietor of The Press, but the newspaper saw reason to publicly state that "it is not a fact that Mr FitzGerald has either pecuniary or official connexion" with it; he was however the driving force behind the paper.

Expansion

On 13 June 1863, the first part of Samuel Butler's Erewhon appeared in The Press in an article signed with the pseudonym Cellarius (q.v.) and headed "Darwin among the Machines."

In 1905, The Press purchased a block of the Cathedral Square site for £4,000. The Board then purchased the right of way (Press Lane) and what was going to be the original Theatre Royal site from the Theatre Royal Syndicate for £5000. The Gothic part of the Press building (occupied by the company until 22 February 2011) was built starting in 1907 and the Press staff shifted into it in February 1909 from their Cashel Street premises.

Into the 21st century

In 1995, The Press was the country's first news outlet that established a website for news. In 2000, Independent Newspapers Ltd (INL) launched its news website branded as Stuff and from then on, The Press and Stuff worked on online content collaboratively.

In February 2011, The Press main building in central Christchurch was badly damaged in the 2011 Christchurch earthquake. All production was operated from their printing plant near Christchurch Airport until June 2012, when the central Christchurch building was partially rebuilt and upgraded. It was one of the first buildings in the Christchurch CBD to be rebuilt and operational.

The paper format for the weekday editions changed from broadsheet to compact in 2018, with only the Saturday edition retaining the larger format.

On 27 April 2023, it was announced that the newspaper would launch a new website that would new be subscription based, this would also happen to other Stuff Inc. owned newspapers The Post and Waikato Times. On 29 April, the new website was launched which also featured a new logo for the newspaper and all content now paywalled.

Motto

The old motto on the masthead – "Nihil utile quod non-honestum" translates to "Nothing is useful that is not honest." Like The Age in Australia, the newspaper's masthead featured the Royal Arms.

Ownership

The early ownership, beyond the newspaper having been financed by Watts-Russell, is unclear. In February 1862, an attempt was made to form a company and formalise the ownership of the paper. A deed of association for "The Proprietors of The Press" was drafted, and it lists the five members of the previous committee (Watts-Russell, Raven, Lance, Tancred, and Harman), plus five new members: Alfred Richard Creyke, John Hall, Joseph Brittan, Isaac Cookson, and James Somerville Turnbull. The deed was not executed, but four-month later, FitzGerald, who had no funds, was the sole owner "through the liberality of the proprietors", as he called it later. FitzGerald lost control of the newspaper ownership in 1868 and the Press Company was incorporated as the owner. That company was dissolved in 1890 and George Stead bought the assets. Stead established the Christchurch Press Company and became its chairman.

The Christchurch Press Company was sold to Independent Newspapers Ltd in 1987, and INL in turn was bought by Fairfax New Zealand in 2003. The Australian parent company, Fairfax Media, merged with Nine Entertainment Co. in December 2018.

Editors

The following have been editors of The Press:

Awards and nominations

Awards and nominations for journalists employed by ''The Press''

References

Citations

Other

• {{cite book | editor-last = Scholefield | editor-first = Guy | editor-link = Guy Scholefield | access-date = 18 January 2014

References

1. Te, Saing. (2021). "Media Ownership in New Zealand from 2011 to 2020". Auckland University of Technology.
2. "matatiki - Te Aka Māori Dictionary".
3. (19 May 2007). "Qantas Media Awards 2007 Results – Full List".
4. "2012 Winners".
5. (6 May 2006). "Fairfax Media clean up at Awards".
6. "About the Lyttelton Times – January 11, 1851". Christchurch City Libraries.
7. {{DNZB. McIntyre. W. David. 1F9. FitzGerald, James Edward – Biography. 6 November 2012. W. David McIntyre
8. (22 May 1886). "Obituary: the late H. P. Lance". [[Timaru Herald]].
9. Preface to the Revised Edition, [[Project Gutenberg]] eBook [https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1906 ''Erewhon''] by Samuel Butler. Release Date: 20 March 2005.
10. (30 April 2018). "You're not going crazy – your local paper has shrunk in size". [[Stuff (website).
11. (2023-04-27). "Stuff to put up first paywalls for news".
12. (2023-04-28). "Stuff launches The Post, The Press and Waikato Times digital sites".
13. {{DNZB. Ogilvie. Gordon. 2s41. Stead, George Gatonby. 5 December 2019. Gordon Ogilvie
14. (17 November 2014). "Former Press editor was 'the ultimate gentleman'". The Press.
15. "New editors appointed to The Press and Nelson Mail". [[National Library of New Zealand]].
16. (9 November 2007). "New Editor for The Press".
17. (26 June 2012). "Christchurch Press editor to head Melbourne Age". The Press.
18. "2023 Winners".
19. "Voyager Media Awards – 2021 Winners".
20. "Stuff claims swag of top honours at 2019 Voyager Media Awards".
21. "2018 winners".
22. "2017 Winners".
23. "2013 Winners".
24. "Home".
25. "The Press wins title of Newspaper of the Year".
26. "Reporting Winners 2019".
27. "2016 Winners".
28. "2015 Winners".
29. Roughan, John. (2004-06-23). "Qantas Media Award winners". [[The New Zealand Herald]].
30. "Qantas Media Awards – Print Results".