NT News: Our commitment, we’re for you

EVERY day in our masthead, we run the words “Your Voice in the Territory”. It sums up what the NT News stands for: You. The people of the Northern Territory

The NT News has a reputation for creating memorable front pages.

EVERY day in our masthead, we run the words “Your Voice in the Territory”. It sums up what the NT News stands for: You. The people of the Northern Territory.

We know we are loved. We know we can be hated. But what can’t be argued is we’ve never stopped fighting to make the Territory a better place.

In the 66 years since the first NT News rolled off the press, we’ve stood by you. We’ve informed you, we’ve made you laugh, we’ve made you cry. We’ve evolved from a simple black and white newspaper to a multimedia company offering news 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Close to 300,000 people read us every month through our newspaper and website. It’s a telling statistic. No other media firm in the Territory comes close to the audience reach we have.

This means one thing: when we speak, people listen. We have always, and continue to be, the NT’s most trusted source of news and information. When we reflect on our past, it is members of the NT News family who have made us who we are today.

We’ve played host to some of the greatest characters the Territory has seen. Colin Wicking, Bob Watt, Jim Bowditch, Grey Morris, Don Kennedy, Bill Murray, Clive Hyde and Frank Alcorta are just a few of the names, past and present, who have helped shape us.

Colin Wicking’s cartoons are a popular feature of the NT News.

Murray, an ex-Melbourne Truth editor, arrived in the mid-90s promising to lift circulation by 5 per cent. He did. His “how to edit the NT News” manifesto has been passed down the lines. His motto was to excite, entertain and inform, something that rings true today.

The Kennedy stories are the stuff of legend. Rachel Hancock, in 2013, became the NT News’ first ever female editor, taking over from Matt Cunningham and, prior to him, Julian Ricci who introduced the irreverent front pages we are now famous for.

Like Ricci and Cunningham, Gary Shipway, the inaugural editor of the Sunday Territorian 34 years ago, are staff members today. Greg Thomson, a former managing editor of the Centralian Advocate, who was also a cadet and NT News chief-of-staff, is our general manager.

Almost 30 years since he began here, Wicking’s cartoons remain front and centre in our daily newspapers. Many politicians say they only need to see his cartoons to understand what Territorians are thinking.

Morris, a fearless sports writer and commentator, is pumping out as many column centimetres as he ever has. Territorians love their sport and our commitment to it is second to none. We recently doubled the amount of sport pages in Saturday’s NT News and expanded our form guide.

When you think of some of the great sports stars the Territory has produced – Rioli, Peris, McLeod, Hayward, McLean, Abbott – it’s no wonder we’re so parochial. It’s only newspapers like ours that has an unbreakable commitment to serve our audience.

AFL legend Cyril Rioli is a Territory product. Picture: George Salpigtidis

When former chief minister Terry Mills wanted to jack up power prices by 40%, our Bill Busters campaign put a stop to it. Our Just Think campaign in 2010 led to introduction of new liquor laws, leading to safer streets and mandatory use of plastic cups at venues. Our Let’s Make the Territory Greater campaign last year led to high-flyers voicing their opinion on what the Territory needed to flourish.

To this day, we are reaping the benefits of that conversation with a focus on improving the CBD, helping our indigenous population and making the most from our natural wonders. Our petrol campaign three years ago helped lead to cheaper fuel prices for Territorians.

As your newspaper, we will continue to focus on the major issues. Right now, the Territory is at a tipping point. Economically, we need an ignition. In a few weeks’ time, the NT Government will decide whether or not to allow fracking.

It’s a hugely divisive issue, making it one of the biggest decisions any Territory Government has had to make. Like any major news event, no one can match the coverage we will offer the fracking decision and debate.

But we can’t acknowledge our own successes and influence without mentioning the wonderful role you, our loyal readers, have played in making us who we are. Whether it’s through letters to the editor, street talk, Facebook messages or phone calls to the newsroom, we understand the deep connection you share with us.

The saying goes: “When two people really care about each other, they always find a way to make it work. No matter how hard it is”.

That is our unwavering promise.