Otago Daily Times
Allied Press Building, Dunedin – the ODT's home
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| Type | Daily (except Sunday) newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Broadsheet |
| Owner(s) | Allied Press |
| Editor | Barry Stewart |
| Founded | 1861 |
| Headquarters | Dunedin, New Zealand |
| Circulation | 43,000 |
| ISSN | 0114-426X |
| Website | www.odt.co.nz |
The Otago Daily Times (ODT) is a newspaper published by Allied Press Ltd in Dunedin, New Zealand.
Originally styled The Otago Daily Times, the ODT was first published on 15 November 1861. It is New Zealand's oldest surviving daily newspaper - Christchurch's The Press, six months older, was a weekly paper for its first few years. The first issue ran to 2750 copies, and was sold for threepence.
The ODT was founded by W.H. Cutten and Julius (later Sir Julius) Vogel during the boom following the discovery of gold at the Tuapeka, the first of the Otago goldrushes. Cutten was the publisher of a weekly newspaper, the Otago Witness, which was founded in 1851, and the strong political views of co-founder Vogel saw an outlet in the ODT's pages, notably for advocacy of provincial government. Its first chief reporter was Edward Thomas Gillon.
The ODT was originally published from premises in Princes Street, but moved to a new building at the corner of Dowling and Burlington Streets at the foot of Bell Hill in 1879. It stayed here until 1928 when it moved into larger premises on the other side of Burlington Street facing Queen's Gardens, where they stayed until 1977.
From the start, the ODT held a strong position among South Island newspapers. Most of its Dunedin opposition papers were short lived, with only the Evening Star surviving beyond the early 1900s. The Star merged with the ODT in 1975 forming a new company, Allied Press, and the ODT moved to the Evening Star Building (now the Allied Press Building) in Stuart Street in June 1977. The Evening Star ceased publication in November 1979 because its readership was declining. As a result, the Allied Press, now publishes the ODT and several smaller papers throughout New Zealand, including the Greymouth Star.
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