New Idea
Cover of magazine from April 2010.
EditorKarleigh Smith
CategoriesWomen's magazine
FrequencyWeekly
FounderThomas Shaw Fitchett
Founded1902 (1902)
CompanyAre Media[1]
CountryAustralia
Based inSydney
LanguageEnglish
Websitewww.newidea.com.au
ISSN0028-5404

New Idea is a long-running Australian weekly magazine aimed at women, now published by Are Media.[1]

History

The magazine was first published in 1902[2] by Fitchett Bros. The founder was Thomas Shaw Fitchett.[2] It was subtitled A Women's Home Journal for Australia.[2] In 1911 the magazine was renamed as Everylady’s journal, but in 1928 the title was changed back to New Idea.[2] Fitchett Brothers changed the name of their company to Southdown Press (later renamed Pacific Magazines).[2] Following World War II the company was acquired by Keith Murdoch and then became part of the Murdoch media consortium.[2]

In June 2006, the magazine was ranked 3rd in Australia in circulation, with an audited circulation of 433,176; it ranked ahead of Reader's Digest.[3] The magazine's readership in 2004 was in excess of 2 million[4] and had increased to 2.364 million in 2005/6;[5] that is the magazine is read by more than 10% of Australia's population. However, in recent years weekly sales figures have dropped to a March 2014 audit of 280,206.[6] In December 2014 readership had halved to 1.265 million,[7]

Content

In what may be termed the golden era of popular magazines, 1950–1980, a popular column was "Mere Male", where readers recounted humorous stories where an "MM", usually a husband, was the (affectionate) butt of the joke. Several anthologies of stories from the period have been published[8] and the expression became part of the Australian vernacular.

Controversies

In January 2008, it revealed details that Prince Harry was with the British army serving in Afghanistan, in breach of an agreement with the major news organisations.[9] It ran updates on the story on two further occasions. When the United States Drudge Report ran the story on 28 February 2008, the prince was forced to abandon his posting and return to the UK. After the story broke much more widely, New Idea pulled the story from its web site and made itself unavailable for comment to other members of the press.[10][11] Two months later, the magazine issued an apology for publishing the story. "We regret this serious lapse of judgment. We sincerely apologise to all our readers, to the servicemen whose lives are at constant risk while serving at home and abroad and to their families and loved ones."

New Idea was criticised on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Media Watch for the use of sensationalist headlines and content.[12]

In 2016, actress Eliza Szonert threatened to sue New Idea because the magazine refused to pay her an agreed sum of A$7000 for a tell-all interview about claiming back her child from an ex-partner living overseas, with the magazine claiming she had lied about entering drug rehabilitation.[13]

As of 2020, New Idea is published by Are Media,[1] the successor to Bauer Media Australia.[14]

Personnel

Editor-in-Chief
  • Dulcie Boling 1977-1993
  • Louisa Hatfield 2005–2017
  • Frances Sheen 2017–2018
  • Emma Nolan 2018-
Deputy editors

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "New Idea". Are Media. Archived from the original on 10 March 2021. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "1902 New Idea magazine". Me and My Big Mouth. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
  3. ↑ "Top 100 Magazine Circulation" (PDF). Magazine Publishers of Australia. 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-08-19.
  4. ↑ "2004 Annual Report" (PDF). Seven Network Limited. p. 17. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-09-12.
  5. ↑ "Top 100 Readership" (PDF). Magazine Publishers of Australia. 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-08-19.
  6. ↑ Audited Media Association of Australia
  7. ↑ Roy Morgan Research 'Australian Magazine Readership 12 months to Dec 2014.
  8. ↑ "Mere Male : the best from three decades of New idea's popular column". Southdown Press. 1982. ISBN 0908429010.
  9. ↑ "Biography". Yahoo Lifestyles, New Idea. Archived from the original on 2012-07-11.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  10. ↑ "New Idea pleads ignorance on Harry embargo". ABC Australia News. Retrieved 1 March 2008.
  11. ↑ "Prince Harry takes on the Taliban". Sydney Morning Herald. 29 February 2008.
  12. ↑ ABC Media Watch 7 July 2014
  13. ↑ "New Idea refusing to pay Neighbours star for 'child snatch' interview". 9News. 31 January 2016. Archived from the original on 31 January 2016. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
  14. ↑ "About Us". Are Media. Archived from the original on 10 March 2021. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
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