A new book by newspaper historian Rod Kirkpatrick fills the gaps in the stories of Australia's capital city dailies of the nineteenth century.
At 72,000 words and 14 chapters, Dailies in the colonial capitals: A short history is of course, anything but short and complements Kirkpatrick's books on Australia's provincial press and specifically Queensland and Victoria.
It follows American journalism professor William Sprague Holden's 1961 book about capital city dailies of the mid-twentieth century, Australia Goes to Press, which followed 13 months in Australia, living in the six state capitals and Canberra.
"My own work sets out to provide a short history of the colonial capital city dailies, of which 71 appeared and 20 were in existence as the twentieth century dawned," says Kirkpatrick. "Eight of those 20 are still being published."
He says none of Australia's newspaper historians has written a comprehensive history of the Australian press, although many touch on aspects of it. "Through Dailies in the colonial capitals I am setting out to provide a foundation stone - and I hope, the inspiration - for a broader history, especially from 1901, of the Australian press."
The early trials and tribulations of publishers mirror in some respects, those today: It took 15 years for conditions to provide "the window of opportunity for the colony's and the nation's first newspaper" - The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser - to emerge in 1803, and it attempted daily publication in its 24th year.
"The early newspapers in the Australian colonies drew from 'a philosophical tradition deriving from virtually 200 years of sustained struggle by British printers, publishers and journalists to assert a free press'," he says.
Chapters in the book focus on the dailies, capital by capital; changes in news gathering and presentation; changes in production technology; reporting federation; and the conflict between whites and aborigines.
Copies from a limited print run are available at $65 plus p&p, details from Kirkpatrick at rkhistory3@bigpond.com or ring or text him on 0400 031 614.
Pictured: Sydney newspaper mastheads of 1891 (State Library of NSW).