Extra! Extra! Read All About It!

News release

3 May 2007

Extra! Extra! Read All About It!

What’s black and white and read all over? A newspaper! The classic childhood school riddle still rings true today as the New Zealand newspaper industry begins to mark sesquicentennial celebrations of some of the longest-running publications in the country. One of the oldest in New Zealand is the Taranaki Daily News based in New Plymouth. Established in May 1857, the paper covered most of the early settler history of the Taranaki region making it an integral part of the knowledge of the region’s 19th Century development.

“The mind boggles at just how many newspapers have been printed over the past 150 years with the number of Taranaki Daily News print runs exceeding 46,800!” says Bill Macnaught, manager of Puke Ariki.

“Black & White & Read All Over captures the essence of the history of news reporting, imagery and advertising over fifteen decades in Taranaki with the exhibition divided between two galleries in the North and South wings,” he says.

“In the 21st Century, newspapers compete for their place, particularly against digital media, as the number one news source for families and businesses. The evolving support and consequent sophistication in advertising has seen the newspaper industry develop in style, format, quality and overall presentation and the increased ability to access them online allows a far greater readership with a wider spread throughout the world,” says Mr Macnaught.

Newspapers have been used for everything from wrappings for fish and chips to keeping homeless people warm when sleeping rough. But the primary use always is to inform the public of the latest news locally, nationally and internationally. In the past newspapers were the starting point of many trades; reporters, printers and typographers all learnt on the job in the days before computerisation and tertiary-based courses became the norm. The exhibition also shows some aspects of the technology changes through time.

The Taranaki Daily News is a founding sponsor of Puke Ariki and through its ongoing support enables an annual reading festival and the ever-popular Storylines Festival to be held.

Black & White & Read All Over
7 May – 22 July 2007
Lane and Wall Galleries
Level 2, North and South Wings,
Puke Ariki
New Plymouth

ENDS

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