Launched in Darwin without much fanfare in recent days has been the online Northern Territory Independent by Canadian journalist Christopher Walsh, former senior political reporter for the Murdoch Northern Territory News , who sued the paper for wrongful dismissal in 2018 .
Upon him being sacked, Crickey ran a report : NT News throws best under bus. Walsh took up a job as an investigative producer with the ABC in Darwin so his latest venture promises to be more than interesting .
Darwin has had a number of hard copy independents over the years , one the successful Darwin Star, named after the Hong Kong Star at the suggestion of journalist/ bookie the late Peter Blake, who had once worked on the blood and guts paper in Honkers . From the Blake family which brought out Sydney's wild , highly successful Kings Cross Whisper , Pete later subbed on the New York Post .
Other Darwin Star luminaries included Rex Clarke , who went on to be a key player in commercial television news ; John Loizou , who kicked off the South East Asian Times , carried on by his partner Cri Pas , who ran a café in Darwin ; American Barbara James who wrote many interesting historical features , a bundle of which is yellowing in the Little Darwin files ; former AAP reporter Neil Dibbs , known to sniff roses and dig up old Chinese bottles at Pine Creek .
To counter the strong competition from the Darwin Star , the Murdoch owned NT News launched a free weekly , the Darwin Sun , subsequently a number of Suns were used to stifle actual or intending competition in other parts of Australia . The story goes that Murdoch had to negotiate with the Darwin nudist club , which campaigned vigorously for a free beach, to use the sunny and fleshy title .
On obtaining the free beach , the jubilant nudists frolicked in the sea .One prominent member , English journalist Dick Muddimer ,who may or may not have been riding a horse ( he was known to ride bare bareback ) , lost control of his false teeth , which fell into the water and disappeared .
Head down and rear up , a mass of helpful nudists went looking for the fangs - a sight to behold , the historic event unfortunately not captured on film .
South Australian trucking magnate and media owner Alan Scott bought the Darwin Star , announced he was going to turn it into a daily in competition to Murdoch , eventually sold out to Rupert .
There was a move to start an online paper in Townsville and possibly other parts of North Queensland but they failed to fly.
