The ''Taranaki Daily News'' is a daily morning newspaper published in

New Plymouth New Plymouth () is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, in Devon, from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. The New Pl ...

, New Zealand.

History

The paper was founded as the ''Taranaki News'' on 14 May 1857, by friends of former

Taranaki Province The Taranaki Province was a Provinces of New Zealand, province of New Zealand from 1853 until the abolition of provincial government in 1876. Initially known as New Plymouth Province, the province was renamed on 1 January 1859 as the Taranaki Pro ...

Superintendent Charles Brown.J.S. Tullett, ''The Industrious Heart: A History of New Plymouth'', New Plymouth City Council, 1981. Brown was the first proprietor of the newspaper and he appointed his political supporter and former '' Taranaki Herald'' editor Richard Pheney as its editor. The paper, initially housed in a small wooden building on the east side of Brougham Street opposite the present library, became a strident critic of the ''Herald'' and the provincial government. The paper began publishing on Saturdays and in 1885 changed its name to the ''Taranaki Daily News'' when it began publishing daily. The word "Taranaki" was dropped from the masthead about 1962 when the paper's ownership was merged with that of the ''Herald'' to become Taranaki Newspapers Ltd, and reinstated in 2004. As of December 2008, the circulation was 25,578. This has progressively increased, with the paper's physical circulation in the 12 months to June 2024 estimated at 44,000 people part of an estimated total cross-platform audience of 118,000 people. Taranaki Newspapers Ltd was bought by Independent Newspapers Ltd in 1989 and was then part of

Fairfax Media Fairfax Media was a media (communication), media company in Australia and New Zealand, with investments in newspaper, magazines, radio and digital properties. The company was founded by John Fairfax as John Fairfax and Sons, who purchased ''The ...

. An electronic version of the paper is available on the Stuff website. The editions from 1900 to 1945 have been digitised by the

National Library A national library is a library established by a government as a country's preeminent repository of information. Unlike public library, public libraries, these rarely allow citizens to borrow books. Often, they include numerous rare, valuable, ...

and are available via

Papers Past The National Library of New Zealand () is charged with the obligation to "enrich the cultural and economic life of New Zealand and its interchanges with other nations" (National Library of New Zealand (Te Puna Mātauranga) Act 2003). Under the ...

. TNL also published two free weekly newspapers in the

Taranaki Taranaki is a regions of New Zealand, region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano Mount Taranaki, Taranaki Maunga, formerly known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the ...

region: The ''North Taranaki Midweek'' (Wednesdays) and the ''South Taranaki Star'' (Thursdays). In June 2024, Stuff closed the ''North Taranaki Midweek'', which had been Taranaki’s single biggest free community paper. Now, the ''Taranaki Daily News'' is printed in Petone, Wellington and moved premises in New Plymouth, downsizing and selling its previous building. It is limited in what it publishes, with deadlines now earlier with the printing done out of the region. Local sports reporters were made redundant from Stuff's provincial newspapers at the end of 2017 and now rely on contributors to carry local coverage.

Awards

In 2019, ''Taranaki Daily News'' journalist Andy Jackson won News Media Awards' Portrait, Feature or Lifestyle Photography (Regional Category) Award from News Media Works.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Newspapers published in New Zealand Stuff (company) Taranaki Mass media in New Plymouth Newspapers established in 1857 1857 establishments in New Zealand