The Examiner


Launceston in 1867 (AOT, PH30/1/21)

The Examiner was founded in 1842 by a Scotsman, James Aikenhead. Its first editorial writer, John West, championed ending transportation and creating an Australian nation. It outstayed its competitors, absorbing the Launceston Advertiser and the Cornwall Chronicle. Changes included becoming tri-weekly (1853) then daily (1877), and introducing linotypes and electricity (1896). The Examiner published a weekly edition, the Weekly Examiner/Tasmanian from 1872; the Weekly Courier (1901–35), the Saturday Evening Express (1924–84), and the Sunday Examiner (1984–). In 1897 WR Rolph and AT Young took over, and in 1990 the controlling company, ENT Ltd, sold the Examiner to a joint venture company controlled by Rural Press (60 percent) and Harris and Co (40 percent). It is now a daily newspaper, also publishing a series of small regional newspapers.

Rod Scott