Smith's Weekly

Smith's Weekly was an Australian tabloid newspaper published from 1919 to 1950. An independent weekly published in Sydney, but read all over Australia, Smith’s Weekly was one of Australia’s most patriotic newspaper-style magazines.

It took its name from its founder and chief financer Sir James Joynton Smith, a prominent Sydney figure during World War One, conducting fund-raising and recruitment drives. Its two other founders were theatrical publicist Claude Eric Fergusson McKay and journalist Robert Packer, father of Sir Frank Packer and grandfather of media baron Kerry Packer. Sir Frank later formed the mighty Australian Consolidated Press, chief rival to Rupert Murdoch's News Limited.

Mainly directed at the male market, it mixed sensationalism, satire and controversial opinions with sporting and finance news. It also included short stories, and many cartoons and caricatures as a main feature of its lively format.

It also had a special Investigation department staffed by journalists with a bent for sleuthing. One of its many exposures is credited with dealing a fatal blow to the New Guard, an incipient fascist movement of the 1930s.

"Smith's Weekly" staff included notable poet Kenneth Slessor as Editor, and cartoonists of the stature of George Finey, Emil Mercier and Stan Cross. It was a launching pad for two generations of outstanding Australian journalists and cartoonists.

References

* Blaikie, George (1966) "Remember Smith's Weekly?" Rigby, Melbourne.