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Bold, brash and lively; "New Zealand Truth" produced its first issue in Wellington in 1905. Spectrum takes a look at New Zealand’s first "scandal sheet" through the eyes of some of those who worked there through the 50's and 60's.
Jerome Cvitanovich describes the newspaper as a champion of the underdog, reviled for its salacious reporting and condemned for its right-wing approach and reflects it was an embarrassment to be caught with one in hand.
The first edition of The Truth was printed in 1879 in Sydney, Australia and was considered a “gutter sheet”. The short lived paper was revived by what he describes as a shady character, Johnny Naughton. The style, he says was “a crude, pot still of pornography from a ferment of sex crimes and divorce suits”.
When it first appeared in New Zealand a Wellington newsagent was prosecuted for selling it. This prompted Noughton to launch a New Zealand edition in June 1905, with the slogan, "The People's Paper." By the mid-1950s when Don Bryant joined as sub-editor and then editor the paper was bought by a syndicate headed by the controversial Wellington lawyer, James Dunn.
Don Bryant describes long-time editor, Brian Connelly’s approach and says they sold one copy of The Truth for every seven in population in the South Island, one in twelve in Auckland and about one in nine or ten in Wellington. He recalls a variety of “witty” headlines that refer to sordid sexual cases.
Clemency, Brian’s wife and columnist, recalls how she lost a friend due to her connection with the paper. Photographer, Peter Bush describes the lengths he and fellow reporters went to in order to capture a story. Reporter Bill Callum was referred to as a “dedicated follower of cops” who worked around the clock.
Anna Hoffman talks about the stories Truth told about her, both in Australia and New Zealand. Mary Seddon worked as a film reviewer and describes how the paper was used as a threat. The Compton Callaghan [?] enquiry is talked about briefly as a court case more well studied. Allegations of corruption in the police in 1953 resulted in a Commission of Inquiry and led to the retirement of the New Zealand Police Commissioner at the time.
The nature of the stories being run meant there was a constant threat of libel action. Diana Wilkes, first sub-editor talks about James Hamilton Dunn who ran the paper but was hardly seen in office. In 1959 Truth reported on the improper involvement in the granting of import licences by the Minister of Industries and Commerce, MP Phil Holloway. In the end, Holloway sued and won.
The woman’s section included recipes, a doctor’s column and "Lyn Carol’s" advice to the lovelorn. Clemency Bryant was "Lyn Carol" in the 1950s and describes the disturbing kinds of topics people would write in about like rural hardship, domestic abuse and kinky sex. The Bryants agree that being editor took its toll with living in a constant state of tension which led to much drinking.
The programme ends with a few words from Peter Bush, who worked with the paper for thirty years, and describes the final decline in staff with himself being “the last taxi off the rank”. Cvitanovich says the paper still appears on Fridays under the banner, New Zealand Truth and TV Extra.