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''The Bulletin'' was an Australian weekly magazine first published in
Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...
on 31 January 1880. The publication's focus was politics and business, with some literary content, and editions were often accompanied by cartoons and other illustrations. The views promoted by the magazine varied across different editors and owners, with the publication consequently considered either on the left or right of the political spectrum at various stages in its history. ''The Bulletin'' was highly influential in Australian culture and politics until after the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
, and was then noted for its
nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...
, pro-labour, and pro-republican writing. It was revived as a modern
news magazine A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published magazine, radio or television program, usually published weekly, consisting of articles about current events. News magazines generally discuss stories, in greater depth than do newspapers or n ...
in the 1960s, and after merging with the Australian edition of
Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...
in 1984 was retitled ''The Bulletin with Newsweek''. It was Australia's longest running magazine publication until the final issue was published in January 2008.


Early history

''The Bulletin'' was founded by
J. F. Archibald Jules François Archibald, known as J. F. Archibald, baptised John Feltham Archibald, (14 January 1856 – 10 September 1919), Australian journalist and publisher, was co-owner and editor of '' The Bulletin'' during the days of its greatest infl ...
and John Haynes, with the first issue being published in 1880. The original content of ''The Bulletin'' consisted of a mix of political comment, sensationalised news, and Australian literature. For a short period in 1880, their first artist William Macleod was also a partner. In the early years, ''The Bulletin'' played a significant role in the encouragement and circulation of nationalist sentiments that remained influential far into the next century. Its writers and cartoonists regularly attacked the British, Chinese, Japanese, Indians, Jews, and Aborigines. In 1886, editor
James Edmond James Edmond (21 April 1859 – 21 March 1933) was a Scottish-Australian journalist and writer of short stories, and notable as an editor of '' The Bulletin''. Edmond was born in Glasgow, the son of James Edmond, carpet-maker, and his wife Jan ...
changed ''The Bulletin''s nationalist banner from "Australia for Australians" to "Australia for the White Man". An editorial, published in ''The Bulletin'' the following year, laid out its reasons for choosing such banners: Its role in the Australian literary surge of the "Nineties" is far more ambiguous: as Sylvia Lawson, the biographer of Archibald, observed, "the heroes of the stockwhip and the wattle blossom ... scarcely existed in the ''Bulletin''".


Contributors

As ''The Bulletin'' evolved, it became known as a platform for young and aspiring writers to showcase their short stories and poems to large audiences. By 1890, it was the focal point of an emerging literary nationalism known as the "Bulletin School", and a number of its contributors, often called bush poets, have become giants of
Australian literature Australian literature is the written or literary work produced in the area or by the people of the Commonwealth of Australia and its preceding colonies. During its early Western history, Australia was a collection of British colonies; as such, ...
. Notable writers associated with ''The Bulletin'' at this time include: * Francis Adams * William Astley *
Barbara Baynton Barbara Janet Baynton (née Lawrence; 4 June 1857 – 28 May 1929) was an Australian writer known primarily for her short stories about life in the bush. She published the collection '' Bush Studies'' (1902) and the novel ''Human Toll'' (1907), ...
* George Lewis Becke * Randolph Bedford *
E.J. Brady Edwin James Brady (7 August 1869 – 22 July 1952) was an Australian journalist and poet. Personal life From Irish parents, Brady was born at Carcoar, New South Wales, and was educated both in the United States and Sydney, Australia. Among h ...
*
Christopher Brennan Christopher John Brennan (1 November 1870 – 5 October 1932) was an Australian poet, scholar and literary critic. Biography Brennan was born in Haymarket, an inner suburb of Sydney, to Christopher Brennan (d. 1919), a brewer, and his wife ...
* Victor Daley * Frank Dalby Davison * C. J. Dennis * Albert Dorrington * Edward Dyson * Ernest Favenc * Joseph Furphy * Mary Gilmore * C. A. Jeffries ("Jeff") * Henry Lawson * Pattie Lewis ("Mab") *
Dorothy Mackellar Isobel Marion Dorothea Mackellar, (1 July 1885 – 14 January 1968) was an Australian poet and fiction writer. Her poem '' My Country'' is widely known in Australia, especially its second stanza, which begins: "''I love a sunburnt countr ...
* Harry 'The Breaker' Morant *
John Shaw Neilson John Shaw Neilson was an Australian poet. Slightly built, for most of his life he worked as a labourer, fruit-picking, clearing scrub, navvying and working in quarries, and, after 1928, working as a messenger with the Country Roads Board in Me ...
* Will H. Ogilvie * Nettie Palmer * Vance Palmer * Andrew Barton 'Banjo' Paterson * Katherine Susannah Prichard * Steele Rudd * Alfred Stephens * Douglas Stewart *
Louise Mack Marie Louise Hamilton Mack (10 October 1870 – 23 November 1935) was an Australian poet, journalist and novelist. She is most known for her writings and her involvement in World War I in 1914 as the first woman war correspondent in Belgium. B ...
*
Ethel Turner Ethel Turner (24 January 1870 – 8 April 1958) was an English-born Australian novelist and children's literature writer. Life She was born Ethel Mary Burwell in Doncaster in England. Her father died when she was two, leaving her mother Sarah J ...
* Alexina Maude Wildman * David McKee Wright A number of notable artists provided illustrations and cartoons for the publication. These include, *
Edward Ambrose Dyson Edward Ambrose Dyson (15 December 1908 – 26 November 1952), often known as "Amby" or "Amb Dyson" was an Australian illustrator, comics artist and political cartoonist. Biography He was born in Melbourne on 15 December 1908, the son of Ambros ...
*
Jimmy Bancks James Charles Bancks (10 May 1889 – 1 July 1952) was an Australian cartoonist best known for his comic strip '' Ginger Meggs''. Biography James Charles Bancks was born in Enmore, New South Wales, Australia on 10 May 1889, the son of an Iris ...
* Les Dixon * Ambrose Dyson * Alexander George Gurney * Percy Leason *
Lionel Lindsay Sir Lionel Arthur Lindsay (17 October 187422 May 1961) was an Australian artist, known for his paintings and etchings. Early life Lindsay was born in the Victorian town of Creswick, into a creative family – he was the brother of artist Norm ...
*
Norman Lindsay Norman Alfred William Lindsay (22 February 1879 – 21 November 1969) was an Australian artist, etcher, sculptor, writer, art critic, novelist, cartoonist and amateur boxer. One of the most prolific and popular Australian artists of his generat ...
* Ruby Lindsay * David Low *
Jack Lusby John Vivian Fitzhenry Lusby (1913–1980), known as "Jack", was an Australian cartoonist, journalist and short story writer who served as a pilot in the Royal Australian Airforce during World War II. Career and works Lusby was born at Drumm ...
* Phil May * Benjamin Minns *
Larry Pickering Lawrence Pickering (18 October 1942 – 19 November 2018) was an Australian political cartoonist, caricaturist, and illustrator of books and calendars. The winner of four Walkley Awards for his work, Pickering largely retired from political ...
*
Norm Rice Norman Blann Rice (born May 4, 1943) is an American politician who served as the 49th mayor of Seattle, Washington, serving two terms from 1990 to 1997. Rice was Seattle's first elected African-American mayor. Early life Rice graduated from th ...
* Alfred Vincent *
Unk White Cecil John White (1900 – March 1986), known under the pen name 'Unk' White, was an Australian cartoonist born in Auckland, New Zealand. White came to Sydney in 1922 with the artists Joe and Guy Lynch and was soon immersed in the bohemian sce ...
According to ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...
'' of London, "It was ''The Bulletin'' that educated Australia up to Federation". In his 1923 novel ''
Kangaroo Kangaroos are four marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern ...
'', English author
D. H. Lawrence David Herbert Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930) was an English writer, novelist, poet and essayist. His works reflect on modernity, industrialization, sexuality, emotional health, vitality, spontaneity and instinct. His best-k ...
wrote of a character who reads ''The Bulletin'' and appreciates its straightforwardness and the "kick" in its writing: "It beat no solemn drums. It had no deadly earnestness. It was just stoical and spitefully humorous." In ''The Australian Language'' (1946), Sidney Baker wrote: "Perhaps never again will so much of the true nature of a country be caught up in the pages of a single journal". ''The Bulletin'' continued to support the creation of a distinctive Australian literature into the 20th century, most notably under the editorship of
Samuel Prior Samuel Henry Prior (10 January 1869 – 6 June 1933), was an Australian journalist, manager and editor of '' The Bulletin''. Prior was educated at Glenelg Grammar School and the Bendigo School of Mines and Industries, Victoria. He became a te ...
(1915–1933), who created the first novel competition. The publication was
folio The term "folio" (), has three interconnected but distinct meanings in the world of books and printing: first, it is a term for a common method of arranging sheets of paper into book form, folding the sheet only once, and a term for a book ma ...
size and initially consisted of eight pages, increasing to 12 pages in July 1880, and had reached 48 pages by 1899. The first issue sold for four
pence A penny is a coin ( pennies) or a unit of currency (pl. pence) in various countries. Borrowed from the Carolingian denarius (hence its former abbreviation d.), it is usually the smallest denomination within a currency system. Presently, it is t ...
, later reduced to three pence, and then, in 1883, was increased to six pence.


''A Woman's Letter''

The ''Bulletin'' was seen to be lacking a "gossip column" such as that conducted by "Mrs Gullett" in ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...
''. W. H. Traill, part-owner of the ''Bulletin'', was aware of the literary talents of his sister-in-law Pattie Lewis, who had been, as "Mab", writing children's stories for the ''
Sydney Mail Sydney Mailmay refer to: * Sydney Mail (train service), a train service that existed between 1888 and 1972 going from Brisbane to Wallangarra, where passengers would transfer at Wallangarra for the Brisbane Limited. * The Sydney Mail, an Australi ...
''. He offered the 17-year-old a column to be called ''A Woman's Letter'', which involved reporting on the comings and goings of notable Sydney socialites. In time the column became quite popular, and reportedly the first item looked for in the magazine by both men and women. When Lewis married, it was she who recommended her successor, Ina Wildman, the audacious "Sappho Smith". Seven women wrote the "Woman's Letter" for ''The Bulletin'': *1881–1888 Pattie Lewis (died 1955) as "Mab"; married James Fotheringhame in 1886 *1888–1896 Ina Wildman (died 1896) as "Sappho Smith" *1896–1898 Florence Blair (died 1937), daughter of David Blair, she married Archibald Boteler Baverstock in 1898. *1898–1901
Louise Mack Marie Louise Hamilton Mack (10 October 1870 – 23 November 1935) was an Australian poet, journalist and novelist. She is most known for her writings and her involvement in World War I in 1914 as the first woman war correspondent in Belgium. B ...
(1870–1935) married John Percy Creed in 1896 and Allen I. Leyland in 1927. *1901–1911
Agnes Conor O'Brien Agnes or Agness may refer to: People *Agnes (name), the given name, and a list of people named Agnes or Agness * Wilfrid Marcel Agnès (1920–2008), Canadian diplomat Places * Agnes, Georgia, United States, a ghost town *Agnes, Missouri, United ...
(died 1934) as "Akenehi" or "Lynette". She married artist and newspaperman William Macleod in 1911 *1911–1919 Margaret Cox-Taylor (died July 1939) as "Vandorian" *1919–1934 Nora Kelly as "Nora McAuliffe"


Later era

The literary character of ''The Bulletin'' continued until 1961, when it was bought by
Australian Consolidated Press Are Media is an Australian media company that was formed after the 2020 purchase of the assets of Bauer Media Australia, which had in turn acquired the assets of Pacific Magazines, AP Magazines and Australian Consolidated Press during the 201 ...
(ACP), merged with the ''Observer'' (another ACP publication), and shifted to a news magazine format. Donald Horne was appointed as chief editor and quickly removed "Australia for the White Man" from the banner. The magazine was costing ACP more than it made, but they accepted that price "for the prestige of publishing Australia's oldest magazine".
Kerry Packer Kerry Francis Bullmore Packer (17 December 1937 – 26 December 2005) was an Australian media tycoon, and was considered one of Australia's most powerful media proprietors of the twentieth century. The Packer family company owned a controlling ...
, in particular, had a personal liking for the magazine and was determined to keep it alive. In 1974, as a result of its publication of a leaked Australian Security Intelligence Organisation paper discussing Deputy Prime Minister Jim Cairns, the Whitlam Government called the Royal Commission on Intelligence and Security. In the 1980s and 1990s, ''The Bulletin''s "ageing subscribers were not being replaced and its newsstand visibility had dwindled".
Trevor Kennedy Trevor Kennedy (born Trevor John Kennedy; born in Perth, Western Australia, on 24 June 1942; died November 2021) was an Australian businessman and company director. He served on the board of directors of many Australian companies, including Conso ...
convinced publisher Richard Walsh to return to the magazine. Walsh promoted Lyndall Crisp to be its first female editor, but
James Packer James Douglas Packer (born 8 September 1967) is an Australian billionaire businessman and investor. Packer is the son of Kerry Packer , a media mogul, and his wife, Roslyn Packer . He is the grandson of Sir Frank Packer. He inherited control o ...
then advocated that former ''
60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who chose to set it apart from other news programs by using a unique st ...
'' executive producer
Gerald Stone Gerald Louis Stone (18 August 1933 – 6 November 2020) was an American-born Australian television and radio journalist, television executive and author. Early years and career Born in 1933 and raised in Columbus, Ohio, Stone graduated in poli ...
be made editor-in-chief. Later, in December 2002, Kerry Packer anointed Garry Linnell as editor-in-chief. Kerry Packer died in 2005, and in 2007 James Packer sold controlling interest in the Packer media assets ( PBL Media) to the private equity firm
CVC Asia Pacific CVC Capital Partners is a Luxembourg-based French private equity and investment advisory firm with approximately US$133 billion of assets under management and approximately €157 billion in secured commitments since inception across American, E ...
. On 24 January 2008, ACP Magazines announced that it was shutting ''The Bulletin''. Circulation had declined from its 1990s' levels of over 100,000 down to 57,000, which has been attributed in part to readers preferring the internet as their source for news and current affairs.


Editors

''The Bulletin'' had many editors over its time in print, and these are listed below: *
J. F. Archibald Jules François Archibald, known as J. F. Archibald, baptised John Feltham Archibald, (14 January 1856 – 10 September 1919), Australian journalist and publisher, was co-owner and editor of '' The Bulletin'' during the days of its greatest infl ...
* John Haynes * William Henry Traill *
James Edmond James Edmond (21 April 1859 – 21 March 1933) was a Scottish-Australian journalist and writer of short stories, and notable as an editor of '' The Bulletin''. Edmond was born in Glasgow, the son of James Edmond, carpet-maker, and his wife Jan ...
*
Samuel Prior Samuel Henry Prior (10 January 1869 – 6 June 1933), was an Australian journalist, manager and editor of '' The Bulletin''. Prior was educated at Glenelg Grammar School and the Bendigo School of Mines and Industries, Victoria. He became a te ...
Peter Kirkpatrick
"Prior, Samuel Henry (1869–1933)"
''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1988, Retrieved 21 April 2015.
* John E. Webb * David Adams * Donald Horne * Peter Hastings * Peter Coleman *
Trevor Kennedy Trevor Kennedy (born Trevor John Kennedy; born in Perth, Western Australia, on 24 June 1942; died November 2021) was an Australian businessman and company director. He served on the board of directors of many Australian companies, including Conso ...
* James Hall * Lyndall Crisp *
Gerald Stone Gerald Louis Stone (18 August 1933 – 6 November 2020) was an American-born Australian television and radio journalist, television executive and author. Early years and career Born in 1933 and raised in Columbus, Ohio, Stone graduated in poli ...
* Max Walsh * David Dale * Paul Bailey * Garry Linnell * Kathy Bail * John Lehmann


S. H. Prior

Samuel Henry Prior Samuel ''Šəmūʾēl'', Tiberian: ''Šămūʾēl''; ar, شموئيل or صموئيل '; el, Σαμουήλ ''Samouḗl''; la, Samūēl is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the bi ...
(10 January 1869 – 6 June 1933) was an Australian journalist and editor, best known for his editorship and ownership of ''The Bulletin''. Born in Brighton, South Australia, Prior was educated at
Glenelg Grammar School Thomas Caterer (31 July 1825 – c. 4 January 1917) was a pioneer schoolteacher of Adelaide, South Australia who founded in 1862 a private school for boys which in 1866 became Norwood Grammar School. His brother, Frederick Isaac Caterer (c. 1840 ...
and the
Bendigo School of Mines and Industries The Bendigo School of Mines was established in Bendigo, Australia in 1873 to provide technical education, predominantly for the mining industry. It was then known as the ''Bendigo School of Mines and Industries'' from 1883 to 1959, ''Bendigo Techni ...
. He started his career as a teacher, before becoming a mining reporter at the ''Bendigo Independent''. In 1887, he was assigned to Broken Hill, New South Wales, to report on the silver mine."S. H. Prior"
''AustLit''.
He was briefly editor at the ''Broken Hill Times'' and then at its successor, ''Broken Hill Argus''. In 1889, Prior joined the ''Barrier Miner'' as editor, remaining in the role for 14 years, during which time he displayed nationalism and championed trade unionism and the Federation of Australia. After sending some of his work to J. F. Archibald at the ''Sydney Bulletin'', he was appointed finance editor in 1903. In this role, he increased importance of the "Wild Cat" column, a financial and investment news and insights column focused on mining companies, which eventually (by 1923) grew into ''Wild Cat Monthly''. Prior was promoted to associate editor in 1912. In 1914, Archibald sold his shares in ''The Bulletin'' to Prior, making Prior the majority shareholder. In 1915, he became the senior editor, in which position he built ''The Bulletin''s reputation for literature and for financial journalism. In 1927, he was sold the remaining shares in ''The Bulletin'' and thus became not only its editor but its sole owner and manager. In 1928, he inaugurated the first ''Bulletin'' Novel Competition, offering aspiring writers prize money and the publishing of their work in ''The Bulletin''. Prior remained editor until 1933, when he died from heart disease. In 1935, his son established the S. H. Prior Memorial Prize for a work of Australian literature. Prior's family retained control of the magazine until it was bought by Consolidated Press Ltd in 1960.


Garry Linnell

Garry Linnell joined ''The Bulletin'' in 2001 and became editor-in-chief in 2002, when the magazine was already dropping in circulation and running at a loss. On one occasion, Kerry Packer called Linnell to his office, and, when Linnell asked what Packer wanted for ''The Bulletin'', Packer said: "Son, just make 'em talk about it." When former Prime Minister Paul Keating sent Linnell a letter criticising the magazine and calling it "rivettingly mediocre", Linnell published the letter in the magazine, promoted that "Paul Keating Writes for Us", and awarded Keating with "Letter of the Week", with the prize for that being a year's subscription to the magazine. In 2005, Linnell offered a $1.25-million reward to anyone who found an extinct Tasmanian tiger.


Columnists and bloggers

Regular columnists and bloggers on the magazine's website included: *
Patrick Cook Patrick may refer to: *Patrick (given name), list of people and fictional characters with this name * Patrick (surname), list of people with this name People *Saint Patrick (c. 385–c. 461), Christian saint * Gilla Pátraic (died 1084), Patrick ...
* Paul Daley * Julie-Anne Davies * Roy Eccleston * Ellen Fanning * Katherine Fleming * Chris Hammer *
Laurie Oakes Laurie Oakes (born 14 August 1943 in Newcastle, New South Wales) is an Australian retired journalist. He worked in the Canberra Press Gallery from 1969 to 2017, covering the Parliament of Australia and federal elections for print, radio, and ...
*
Leo Schofield Leo George Schofield (born 6 May 1935) is an Australian restaurant critic, contributing a weekly column in ''The Mercury''. Schofield has served a long career as an advertising professional, journalist, creative arts festival director, and tr ...
* Adam Shand * Terrey Shaw * Rebecca UrbanThebulletinblog.com.au


See also

* Bill Fitz Henry *
The Bookfellow ''The Bookfellow'' was a monthly English-language journal published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The publication's focus was Australian literature and editions were often accompanied by illustrations. History ''The Bookfellow'' was pub ...
* The Bulletin Debate


References


Further reading

* * * * * *


External links

*
CC-By-SA A Creative Commons (CC) license is one of several public copyright licenses that enable the free distribution of an otherwise copyrighted "work".A "work" is any creative material made by a person. A painting, a graphic, a book, a song/lyric ...
] * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bulletin 1880 establishments in Australia 2008 disestablishments in Australia ACP magazine titles Antisemitism in Australia Defunct political magazines published in Australia Magazines disestablished in 2008 Magazines established in 1880 Magazines published in Sydney News magazines published in Australia Weekly magazines published in Australia