The Australian: Nation’s trusted source of truth

The near-miss assassination attempt on Donald Trump adds tension and complexity to what News Corporation chairman Lachlan Murdoch spoke of in The Weekend Australian as the most dangerous environment since the 1930s. In an exclusive interview with Paul Kelly to mark Monday’s 60th anniversary of The Australian, founded by his father, Mr Murdoch underlined the importance of US engagement in a troubled, uncertain world: “We’ve had 50 years of relative peace and we understand what led to that peace – it was American leadership.”

The first issue of The Australian reported and analysed the 1964 US presidential election campaign, and included an editorial about how Australia needed to find its way as a grown-up nation. Editor-in-chief Michelle Gunn writes on Monday: “How the paper began that day, examining the world but thinking deeply about the idea of Australia, is how this masthead has continued and how it will look to the future.’’

News Corporation’s vision for the paper is to produce journalism of the highest quality and promote a thoughtful contest of ideas on significant issues. That role is central to a healthy, functioning democracy. And it shapes The Australian’s coverage of the major issues and debates of our times. These include defence, energy provision, economic growth and productivity, closing the gap in Indigenous affairs, education, social welfare, health, immigration and holding the legal system to account. Promoting free speech – the robust exchange of ideas that matter – was built into The Australian’s DNA. “In these pages you will find the impartial and the independent thinking that are essential to the further advance of our country,” an editorial headed “Good Day’’ said on our first front page, on July 15, 1964. “This paper is tied to no party, to no state, and has no chains of any kind. Its guide is faith in Australia and the country’s future. It will be our duty to inform Australians everywhere of what is happening in their country; of what is really happening in the rest of the world and how this affects our prosperity, our prospects, our national conscience and our public image.”

From prime ministers and bureaucrats to educators, farmers, bank bosses and union officials, our diverse readers know that the paper has remained true to what was pledged on that first front page: “We shall not hesitate to speak fearlessly. We shall criticise. We will not be influenced when there is a public need for us to be outspoken. We shall praise. We shall encourage those feelings and movement in public and private life which elevate the individual and advance the nation’s welfare. The authoritative writers who will contribute regularly on topics ranging from the arts to aviation are acknowledged leaders in the subjects they will discuss. The business and financial section is organised and written by the shrewdest and best informed commercial journalists in the nation. Vigor, truth and information without dullness will be found day by day in these columns.’’ Amid wars in Ukraine and Gaza, and Chinese aggression in the Asia-Pacific, the promise of world news coverage that “surpasses any yet assembled in the pages of one newspaper anywhere in the world” has been honoured; it has never mattered more.

The idea of a national daily newspaper for Australia, Alan Howe writes on Monday, took shape as early as 1915, the year that Rupert Murdoch’s father, Keith, was living in London and wrote the Gallipoli letter, a searing 8000-word assessment of the hopeless Dardanelles campaign, to Australian prime minister Andrew Fisher and British prime minister Herbert Asquith. In an interview with Paul Kelly in 2014, Rupert Murdoch said it had been his father’s ambition to publish a national newspaper in Australia. Of course, a great deal has changed over the past six decades, including how news is gathered, presented and consumed by readers. Today’s digital storytelling would have been unimaginable in 1964. Hedley Thomas’s podcast, The Teacher’s Pet, has had more than 80 million downloads. Bronwyn, his current podcast, likewise has subscribers here and around the world enthralled. From footage of the Trump shooting to exchanges in parliament, video and podcasts, such as The Front, are enhancing our coverage. Well over half of our readers now visit us on the app or website and are as devoted in their daily habits as our loyal print readers. No matter how you are reading this, please allow us to repeat and renew the invitation we first extended 60 years ago on Monday: “This morning we believe we shall make thousands of friends, who as the thinking men and women of Australia will have a profound influence on the future. You are welcome to this company of progress.”