Sunday, April 5, 2020

NEW NORTHERN TERRITORY NEWSPAPER

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.