A well-informed region
The earliest newspaper printed in the province was the Taranaki Herald, followed by what became the Taranaki Daily News. By the turn of the 20th century almost every town had its own paper – these included the Patea Mail (1875-1941), Hawera & Normanby Star (founded in 1880), Waitara Press (founded 1883), Waimate Witness (1888-1928), Inglewood Record (1892-1929), Opunake Times (1894-1949), Eltham Argus (1897-1967), Stratford Evening Post (1903-1936) and Kaponga Courier (1925-1940).
Taranaki Herald
The Taranaki Herald was the oldest surviving daily newspaper in New Zealand until it closed in 1989. Established by printer Garland Woon (1831-1895) and typographer William Collins (1818-1895), its first four-page issue came out on Wednesday 4 August 1852.
From 1875 to 1932 the Budget and Weekly Herald was printed every Saturday as a summary of the week’s news, specifically for distribution to outlying areas. In 1926 the Taranaki Herald also introduced a special sport edition, Taranaki Sports, published on Saturday afternoon with all the day’s results. This ceased in 1930 but was resurrected in 1956 until competition from radio and television led to its demise in 1972.
During the Second World War, a weekly Overseas News Sheet was produced in order to “keep Taranaki men overseas in closest possible touch with happenings at home".
By the 1950s, the evening Herald and the Taranaki Daily News were being produced in separate buildings across the road from each other at the south end of Currie Street. In 1962 they both came under the umbrella of Taranaki Newspapers Ltd. and production was combined in one building. While much of the administration and printing activity was merged, the two papers kept their own editors and remained fiercely competitive. Their high-speed rotary press used 4.5 tonnes of newsprint every day and their delivery network covered over 10,000 kilometres.
The Herald was involved in various community campaigns over the years, including fundraising for the New Plymouth Clock Tower which was opened in 1985. George Kingsford Koea (1928-1987) was one of only a few Māori editors at the time. The Herald also employed New Zealand’s first female news editor, June Litman (1926-1991), in 1976.
In 1988, Taranaki Newspapers was bought by Independent Newspapers Ltd. The Herald was closed the following year after failing to maintain circulation and advertising volumes. Lance Girling-Butcher (1942-) edited its final issue, printed on 29 April 1989.
Taranaki Daily News (Te Karere o Taranaki)
The Taranaki Daily News began life on 14 May 1857, established by Charles Brown (1820-1901), former Superintendent of the Taranaki Province, after the Herald supported a rival political candidate.
Printed weekly at first and known as the Taranaki News, it was edited by bookseller Richard Pheney (1803-1881) and renamed the Taranaki Daily News in 1885 when more frequent publication began. “Taranaki” was dropped from its masthead in 1960, in recognition of the paper’s growing circulation in the King Country, but the name was changed back in 2004.
Well-known contributors to the Daily News have included Harry Dansey (1920-1979), a Māori Battalion veteran employed as a cartoonist from 1956 to 1961, novelist John Brodie (1905-1955) and Neil Holdom, later Mayor of New Plymouth, who was a reporter from 1996 to 1999 then edited The North Taranaki Midweek from 2000 to 2003.
The Daily News is now the second oldest newspaper in the country after the Whanganui Chronicle. In 2001 it could also claim to be the most read, with 75% of Taranaki residents perusing a copy most days.
Community Newspapers in New Plymouth
The City Express was established in 1963 as an advertising giveaway with morning milk deliveries. Its name changed to the Sunday Express in 1968 then to the North Taranaki Weekender in 1988, when it combined with the Northern Star (previously the New Plymouth Star). The Weekender had an additional Midweek issue published on Wednesdays and these papers survived until June 2024 as The North Taranaki Midweek / Te Mātārere.
Māori Niupepa
The Maori Record was published by journalist Robert Studholme Thompson and his wife, photographer Queenie Wi Rangipehu, in Hāwera from 1905-1907. Later Māori titles have included Te Maunga Korero (1992-1993), edited by Donna Pokere-Phillips.
The original Taranaki Herald motto printed on its masthead - "Yield not to misfortune".
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