''Truth'' was a

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

published in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. It was founded in August 1890 by

William Nicholas Willis William Nicholas Willis (3 August 1858 – 3 April 1922) was an Australian politician and newspaper proprietor. Early life Willis was born in Mudgee, New South Wales and educated in Mudgee and, briefly, at St Mary's School in Sydney, which he ...

and its first editor was Adolphus Taylor. In 1891 it claimed to be "The organ of radical democracy and Australian National Independence" and advocated "a republican Commonwealth created by the will of the whole people", but from its early days it was mainly a

scandal sheet Tabloid journalism is a popular style of largely sensationalist journalism, which takes its name from the tabloid newspaper format: a small-sized newspaper also known as a half broadsheet. The size became associated with sensationalism, an ...

. Subsequent owners included Adolphus Taylor,

Paddy Crick William Patrick Crick (10 February 1862 – 23 August 1908) was an Australian politician, solicitor and newspaper proprietor. He was described by author Cyril Pearl as an irresistible demagogue, who "looked like a prize fighter, dressed like a ...

and John Norton. Norton established several subsidiaries, including the ''Sportsman'' (1900), the '' Brisbane Truth'' (1900), the Melbourne ''Truth'' (1902) and the Perth ''Truth'' (1903 to 1931), and an Adelaide ''

Truth Truth or verity is the Property (philosophy), property of being in accord with fact or reality.Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionarytruth, 2005 In everyday language, it is typically ascribed to things that aim to represent reality or otherwise cor ...

'' (1916-1964)''.''

Ezra Norton

Although John Norton disinherited his estranged wife, Ada Norton and his son

Ezra Norton Ezra Norton (8 April 1897 – 4 January 1967) was an Australian newspaper baron and businessman. Early life Norton was born in the Sydney suburb of Watsons Bay, son of the proprietor of ''Truth'', John Norton (1858–1916) and Ada McGrath (187 ...

at his death in 1916 (with the bulk of his estate going to his daughter, Joan), Mrs Norton persuaded the

New South Wales Parliament The Parliament of New South Wales, formally the Legislature of New South Wales, (definition of "The Legislature") is the bicameral legislative body of the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW). It consists of the Monarch, the New South Wale ...

to backdate the new ''Testator's Family Maintenance Act'' to take effect before Norton's death. Under this legislation, she succeeded in having his will rewritten in 1920 so that she and Ezra Norton each received a third of his inheritance, allowing

to gain control of the ''Truth'' group.

End of ''Truth''

In January 1941,

launched ''

The Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead ...

''. In October 1958, he replaced the Sydney ''Truth'' with the ''Sunday Mirror''. In December 1958, Norton and the other shareholders sold their shares in ''Truth and Sportsman Ltd'' to the

Fairfax group Fairfax may refer to: Places United States * Fairfax, California * Fairfax Avenue, a major thoroughfare in Los Angeles, California * Fairfax District, Los Angeles, California, centered on Fairfax Avenue * Fairfax, Georgia * Fairfax, Indiana * Fa ...

, which on-sold it to

Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian - American retired business magnate, investor, and media mogul. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of List of assets owned by News Corp, local, national, a ...

's News Ltd. The ''Sunday Mirror'' continued to be published until 1977 when it was renamed the ''Sunday'' which in turn ceased circulation on 7 Oct 1979. The ''Truth (Melbourne)'' which was initially the Victorian edition of the Truth (Sydney) continued publication until 15 May 1993.

Digitisation

The paper has been digitised as part of the

Australian Newspapers Digitisation Program Trove is an Australian online library database owned by the National Library of Australia in which it holds partnerships with source providers National and State Libraries Australia, an aggregator and service which includes full text documen ...

project of the

National Library of Australia The National Library of Australia (NLA), formerly the Commonwealth National Library and Commonwealth Parliament Library, is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the ''National Library Act 1960'' for "mainta ...

References

Sources

External links