MX (newspaper)

Last updated

mX
Rebranded mX logo, Feb 2015.svg
Type Free daily newspaper
Format Tabloid
Owner(s) News Corp Australia
PublisherTamara Oppen
Editor
Founded6 February 2001
Ceased publication12 June 2015
Headquarters Melbourne, Australia
Website www.mx.net.au

mX was an Australian free afternoon daily newspaper in the cities of Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, owned and produced by News Corp Australia. Targeted at commuters, its main channels of distribution were inner-city railway stations, tram and bus stops, and major CBD intersections. The last edition of mX was published on 12 June 2015.

Contents

Beginnings

The first mX was published in Melbourne on 6 February 2001, [1] hoping to capitalise on the Metro format, popular in Europe. The paper contained lighter news and sports articles, often containing strange stories and facts from around the world (under the headings "Nice One" and, "What The?"). The newspaper's approach was to focus much more on entertainment than news, compared to broadsheet newspapers, or even other tabloids.

Melbourne Express , published by rival Fairfax Media, was this paper's competitor. Initially it used the same format, although it was released in the mornings rather than the afternoon. It began publication the day before mX, but was soon overtaken due to mX's much broader use of colour, its greater availability, and its lighter tone. In addition, mX had no explanation at its launch, allowing readers to assume that it stood for "Melbourne Express" and that it was the paper known by that name. Melbourne Express ceased publication on 7 September 2001.

The broad success of mX contributed to reduced sales of the afternoon edition of News Corporation stablemate the Herald Sun , its last edition being published on 21 December 2001. [2]

Sydney and Brisbane editions

A person hands out copies of mX at St James railway station, Sydney Mxstjames.jpg
A person hands out copies of mX at St James railway station, Sydney

Following the success of mX in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane editions were launched.

On 4 July 2005, mX launched a Sydney edition. Sydney City Council was considering a tender to lease Sydney footpaths to News Corporation for $362,000 annually, and charge other free daily newspaper a similar fee if they use the same location more than 40 times a year. Other newspapers, that are distributed by sellers on streets, are concerned about the possibility that they may be required to also pay such fees.

The Brisbane edition of mX was launched on 5 March 2007, with an expected distribution of 40,000 copies per day. [3]

Format and content

Being a commuter newspaper, mX was much thinner than other daily newspapers.

Central themes of most articles included U.S. celebrity gossip, new product lines, controversial events, rumours, celebrity trivia, and readers' gripes, amongst other attention-grabbing stories. Large photographs often appeared without any related story, only a caption describing their contents; conversely, news stories were rarely accompanied by photographs. Small, large, and full page advertisements were also a major contributor to the paper's overall make-up.

The newspaper launched an app in 2013. [4]

Sections

Staples

Some mX editions had been stapled, as they tended to remain contained and not blow around as much. This decision was also based on the capabilities of publishing equipment and whether binding systems were installed at the production facilities. [6]

Theming

Occasionally the mX masthead was modified to capitalise on major events, such as a tennis ball and racquet during the Australian Open, and love hearts and using rose scented ink during Valentine's Day. On the day of the Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton, the x was changed to a Union Jack and many pages said "The royal wedding" other pages said "Not the wedding".[ citation needed ] In the lead-up to both the 2007 federal election and 2010 federal election, the front page of each issue bore a "disclaimer" warning of the number of election stories (if any) contained within.[ citation needed ]

Closure

On 28 May 2015, News Corp announced that the newspaper was closing down. The final edition was printed on 12 June 2015, and the corresponding mobile app was also closed down. [7]

Revival

In 2018 mX was briefly revived in Melbourne as part of a promotion by Carlton & United Breweries. Published on four consecutive Wednesdays from 26 September, it was only available at Flinders Street, Flagstaff, Melbourne Central, Richmond and Southern Cross stations. [8] The same stunt was pulled again in 2024, this time to promote the Rising arts festival. Two issues were distributed to 60,000 city workers at key train stations in the Melbourne central business district. [9] [10]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Herald Sun</i> Australian daily tabloid

The Herald Sun is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia, published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, itself a subsidiary of the Murdoch owned News Corp. The Herald Sun primarily serves Melbourne and the state of Victoria and shares many articles with other News Corporation daily newspapers, especially those from Australia.

<i>The Sydney Morning Herald</i> Daily compact newspaper in Australia

The Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) is a daily tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the Sydney Herald, the Herald is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Australia and claims to be the most widely-read masthead in the country. The newspaper is published in compact print form from Monday to Saturday as The Sydney Morning Herald and on Sunday as its sister newspaper, The Sun-Herald and digitally as an online site and app, seven days a week. It is considered a newspaper of record for Australia. The print edition of The Sydney Morning Herald is available for purchase from many retail outlets throughout the Sydney metropolitan area, most parts of regional New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory and South East Queensland.

<i>The Australian</i> Daily newspaper in Australia

The Australian, with its Saturday edition The Weekend Australian, is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964. As the only Australian daily newspaper distributed nationally, its readership as of September 2019 of both print and online editions was 2,394,000. Its editorial line has been self-described over time as centre-right.

<i>The West Australian</i> Daily newspaper in Perth, Western Australia

The West Australian is the only locally edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia. It is owned by Seven West Media (SWM), as is the state's other major newspaper, The Sunday Times. It is the second-oldest continuously produced newspaper in Australia, having been published since 1833. It tends to have conservative leanings, and has mostly supported the Liberal–National Party Coalition. It has Australia's largest share of market penetration of any newspaper in the country.

<i>The Courier-Mail</i> Daily tabloid newspaper in Australia

The Courier-Mail is an Australian newspaper published in Brisbane. Owned by News Corp Australia, it is published daily from Monday to Saturday in tabloid format. Its editorial offices are located at Bowen Hills, in Brisbane's inner northern suburbs, and it is printed at Yandina on the Sunshine Coast. It is available for purchase both online and in paper form throughout Queensland and most regions of Northern New South Wales.

Schwartz Publishing is an Australian publishing house, digital media, and news media organisation based in Melbourne, established by Australian property developer Morry Schwartz in the 1980s. Since the late 1990s many of its publications have appeared under the Black Inc imprint. Schwartz Publishing has its complementary brand Schwartz Media, which all sit under the wider group of Schwartz companies, specialising in newspapers, books, essays, magazines, journals, podcasts, and online news media. Its most well-known publications are Quarterly Essay, The Saturday Paper, and The Monthly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mass media in Australia</span> Overview of mass media in Australia

Mass media in Australia spans traditional and digital formats, and caters mostly to its predominantly English-speaking population. It is delivered in a variety of formats including radio, television, paper, internet and IPTV. Varieties include local, regional, state, federal and international sources of media, reporting on Australian news, opinion, policy, issues and culture.

<i>Australian Financial Review</i> Australian financial newspaper

The Australian Financial Review (AFR) is an Australian business-focused, compact daily newspaper covering the current business and economic affairs of Australia and the world. The newspaper is based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; owned by Nine Entertainment and has been published continuously since its founding in 1951. The AFR, along with the rest of Fairfax Media, was sold to Nine Entertainment for more than A$2.3 billion. The AFR is published in tabloid format six times a week, whilst providing 24/7 online coverage through its website. In November 2019, the AFR reached 2.647 million Australians through both print and digital mediums (Mumbrella).

News Corp Australia is an Australian media conglomerate and wholly owned subsidiary of the American News Corp.

<i>TV Week</i> Australian magazine

TV Week is a weekly Australian magazine that provides television program listings information and highlights, as well as television-related news.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tim Tam</span> Brand of chocolate biscuits

Tim Tam is a brand of chocolate biscuit introduced by the Australian biscuit company Arnott's in 1964. It consists of two malted biscuits separated by a light hard chocolate cream filling and coated in a thin layer of textured chocolate.

The Leader Community Newspaper group publishes 20 digital titles covering metropolitan Melbourne.

<i>The Toowoomba Chronicle</i> Australian newspaper

The Toowoomba Chronicle is a daily newspaper serving Toowoomba, the Lockyer Valley and Darling Downs regional areas in Queensland, Australia.

The Sunshine Coast Daily is an online newspaper specifically serving the Sunshine Coast region of Queensland, Australia. It is owned by News Corp Australia. It was originally founded as a print newspaper, however since 2020 the publication is only available in digital forms.

Nine News Now is an Australian afternoon news bulletin that aired on the Nine Network and was presented by Amber Sherlock and Belinda Russell (Friday).

<i>Guardian Australia</i> Australian online newspaper

Guardian Australia is the Australian website of the British global online and print newspaper, The Guardian.

<i>The Saturday Paper</i> Australian weekly newspaper

The Saturday Paper is an Australian weekly newspaper, launched on 1 March 2014 in hard copy, as an online newspaper and in mobile news format. The paper is circulated throughout Australian capital cities and major regional centres. Since its launch The Saturday Paper has maintained a focus on long-form journalism and in-depth coverage of current affairs, arts and Australian politics.

Broadsheet is an Australian mostly online city guide and culture magazine, founded by Nick Shelton in October 2009 and as of 2021 still run by him. The website covers news related to food and drink, fashion, art and design, entertainment, and health and fitness. It also has an extensive directory of cafes, restaurants, bars and shops which contains imagery and short descriptions of each venue. Print editions have been produced in the past.

<i>Vogue Australia</i> Australian Vogue magazine

VogueAustralia is the Australian edition of Vogue magazine. The magazine became the fifth edition of Vogue in 1959 following Vogue, British Vogue, Vogue Paris and Vogue New Zealand.

References

  1. ↑ "More Details on Free Newspapers". Newsrail . Vol. 29, no. 5. Vic: ARHS Victoria Division. May 2001. p. 139. ISSN   0310-7477. OCLC   19676396.
  2. ↑ "Vic: Herald Sun to cancel PM edition". AAP General News (Australia). 21 December 2001.}
  3. ↑ mX spreads to Brisbane, mX (Melbourne) 5 March 2007, p. 4.
  4. ↑ " "mX goes national with launch of smartphone app". IAB Australia. 24 May 2013. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
  5. ↑ "Countdown on as mX thanks readers", The Newspaper Works, 29 May 2015
  6. ↑ "Obituary: mX Newspaper (Sydney Printed Edition 4 July 2005 – 12 June 2015)". Gough's Tech Zone. www.goughlui.com. 21 June 2015. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
  7. ↑ Christensen, Nic (28 May 2015). "News Corp to axe commuter mX newspapers". Mumbrella . Retrieved 29 May 2015.
  8. ↑ Dawson, Abigail (26 September 2018). "Commuter paper mX returns to Melbourne metro trains". Mumbrella. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  9. ↑ Jolly, Nathan (28 May 2024). "The iconic mX newspaper set to return to train stations". Mumbrella. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  10. ↑ Hastings, Ashleigh (3 June 2024). "Start the presses! Melbourne's beloved free newspaper mX is back at train stations today". Time Out Melbourne. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.