About New Idea

New Idea

New Idea is a long-running Australian weekly magazine aimed at women, published in Sydney by Are Media. First published in 1902 by Fitchett Bros, it is one of the oldest continuously published magazines in the country, with a history spanning more than 120 years. Its modern formula combines celebrity news and royal coverage with health, lifestyle, cooking and real-life content — but its heritage is that of a family general-interest weekly, and its famous "Mere Male" column of the 1950s to 1980s entered the Australian vernacular.

Overview

New Idea's name is one of the most recognisable in Australian magazine publishing. Founded as a women's home journal in the Federation era, it has reinvented itself through successive generations of readers while keeping its weekly rhythm and mass-market appeal. Today's New Idea leads with celebrity and royal stories, human-interest features and practical lifestyle content, distributed in print and through its digital editions.

The title's longevity makes it a barometer of Australian magazine history: born in the era of independent publishers, consolidated through the Murdoch, Packer and Seven West Media empires, and now published by Are Media, the company formed from Bauer Media Australia's assets. Few Australian publications can claim continuous publication since 1902.

History

The magazine was first published in 1902 by Fitchett Bros, founded by Thomas Shaw Fitchett, and subtitled A Women's Home Journal for Australia. In 1911 it was renamed Everylady's Journal, but in 1928 the title reverted to New Idea. The title has thus been in continuous publication for well over 120 years. Fitchett Brothers changed the name of their company to Southdown Press, which was later renamed Pacific Magazines. Following World War II the company was acquired by Keith Murdoch and became part of the Murdoch media consortium.

Southdown Press became one of Australia's great magazine publishers. Pacific Magazines, its successor, was spun out of Rupert Murdoch's Australian magazine holdings in 1991 as Pacific Magazines and Printing (PMP); Seven West Media acquired Pacific Magazines in 2002. Bauer Media Australia agreed to buy Pacific Magazines in October 2019, completing the purchase in May 2020 after clearance by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission; a month later the Sydney investment firm Mercury Capital bought Bauer Media's Australian and New Zealand assets and, in September 2020, rebranded the business as Are Media, which has published New Idea since.

The mid-twentieth century was the title's golden era. From 1950 to 1980 one of its most popular features was the column "Mere Male," in which readers recounted humorous stories in which an "MM" — usually a husband — was the affectionate butt of the joke. Anthologies of the column's stories were published, and the expression entered everyday Australian speech. Southdown Press published a collection, Mere Male: the best from three decades of New Idea's popular column, in 1982 (ISBN 0908429010). The column's formula — readers submitting their own anecdotes for publication — anticipated the reader-generated content model that later weekly titles such as Take 5 and That's Life! would build their businesses on. At its peak the magazine's reach was enormous: in June 2006 it ranked third in Australia for circulation with an audited 433,176 copies, ahead of Reader's Digest; readership exceeded 2 million in 2004 and rose to 2.364 million in 2005–06, meaning more than one in ten Australians read it. By March 2014 weekly sales had fallen to 280,206, and by December 2014 readership had halved to 1.265 million — the familiar story of print weeklies in the digital age.

Content and Features

New Idea's weekly package centres on celebrity and royal news — cover stories on star relationships, babies, weddings and scandals — supported by health and lifestyle features, real-life reader stories, cooking, puzzles and fashion and beauty pages. Its editors over the modern era have included Dulcie Boling (1977–1993), Louisa Hatfield (2005–2017), Frances Sheen (2017–2018) and Emma Nolan (from 2018); Karleigh Smith is the current editor. Nene King, who also edited The Australian Women's Weekly, served as a deputy editor.

The Southdown Press lineage

New Idea's corporate story is inseparable from the rise of Australian magazine publishing. Fitchett Brothers' Southdown Press had its roots in the Murdoch family's publishing interests: following World War II the company was acquired by Keith Murdoch and became part of the Murdoch media consortium. When News Corp Australia acquired the Herald & Weekly Times in 1987, titles including the Australasian Post, Home Beautiful and Your Garden joined the stable; in 1991 Rupert Murdoch spun off his Australian magazine holdings into a new company, Pacific Magazines and Printing (PMP). Seven West Media acquired Pacific Magazines in 2002, and in 2016 Pacific brought its digital assets back from Yahoo7, rolling out premium digital offerings across its network including New Idea. The October 2019 agreement for Bauer Media Australia to buy Pacific Magazines, completed in May 2020 after ACCC clearance, folded New Idea into Bauer — and a month later into Mercury Capital's Are Media.

The magazine has occasionally made news itself. In January 2008 it published details revealing that Prince Harry was serving with the British Army in Afghanistan, in breach of an embargo agreed with the major news organisations; it ran updates on the story twice more, and when the US Drudge Report picked it up on 28 February 2008 the prince was withdrawn from his posting. After the story broke widely, New Idea pulled it from its website and declined comment; two months later it issued an apology, saying: "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." The title has also been criticised on the ABC's Media Watch for sensationalist headlines and content, and in 2016 actress Eliza Szonert threatened legal action over a disputed A$7,000 payment for a tell-all interview.

Coverage and Audience

New Idea targets a broad, predominantly female readership and is distributed nationally through newsagents and supermarkets, with digital editions sold alongside print. From readerships above two million in the mid-2000s it has contracted with the rest of the weekly print market, but it remains one of Australia's best-known magazine brands, with Roy Morgan data placing its print readership at around half a million in recent years. Its website extends the brand with daily celebrity news. The title carries ISSN 0028-5404, and the brand also extends to a New Zealand edition.

Ownership

New Idea is owned and published by Are Media, the Sydney-based magazine company owned by the investment firm Mercury Capital. The company's lineage runs through Bauer Media Australia, Pacific Magazines and Southdown Press — the Fitchett family company that founded the title. The magazine is based in Sydney, New South Wales, publishing weekly in print with digital editions sold alongside. The brand has also extended into video through New Idea TV.

Digital Presence

The magazine's official website, newidea.com.au, carries daily celebrity and royal news, lifestyle features and recipe content, and sells print and digital subscriptions. New Idea maintains active social media channels promoting each week's cover stories, and its brand sits within Are Media's digital network alongside Woman's Day, Take 5 and That's Life!. Are Media's digital assets also include the Now to Love, Homes to Love and Beauty Heaven websites.