Truth

by Redmer Yska, Louise A. Belcher

Publisher's FOR MUCH OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY, New Zealand Truth was the tough,vulgar tabloid newspaper that tapped the pulse of Kiwi populism. By the mid-1960s, the ‘people’s paper’ claimed an astonishing one million readers a week.This book tells how Truth revolutionised the local newspaper industry byintroducing a ‘new journalism’ in 1905, which aimed a core diet of sex, crime, radical politics and random muck-raking directly at the masses.It was a successful formula, and by the middle of the century, Truth was amedia governments bowed to its editorial campaigns and rival newspapers followed its innovations. What are now niainstays of modern newspapers, such as investigative journalism and salacious celebrity yarns, all began at Truth.Over the years the paper has also had a remarkable cast of journalists andcontributors including Sir Geoffrey Palmer, Sir Bernard Freyberg, Bruno Lawrence, Robin Hyde, Maurice Shadbolt and David Low.Truth’s scandal-ridden history has never been told before. Author Redmer Yska, himself a former Truth reporter, penetrates the inner workings of this scurrilous, colourful paper for the first time, and along the way provides a unique insight into the bigger story of the New Zealand media in the twentieth century.

204 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Brad · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting look at a Newspaper that was bought to New Zealand by Australian John Norton and follows both its rise and fall over the years and the fact that it had also reached the grand milestone of 100 years. Depending on the Editor the newspaper would hit both sides of politics and hit issues head on. Worth the read to see what was happening within New Zealand during the time the Truth reign surpreme.