NEWSPAPER HISTORY
Ross
Harvey's interest in the
history of newspapers began when he was employed to carry out a survey
of the holdings of newspapers in New Zealand's libraries, museums,
archives, historical societies and libraries. This was published in
1987 as Union
List of Newspapers Preserved in Libraries, Newspaper Offices, Local
Authority Offices and Museums in New Zealand.
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| Federal
Standard, Chiltern, 2008 |
Ross Harvey's
earlier research into
newspaper history focussed on gaining a better understanding of the
reasons why and circumstances in which New Zealand's early newspaper -
those published before around 1900 - were published. He was
concerned that historians were not using early newspapers
appropriately because they did not fully appreciate the conditions in
which these newspapers were produced and the reasons why they were
issued. Articles which have resulted from this theme include:
- Harvey, R. (1988). 'Joseph Ivess: "Celebrated Country Newspaper Propagator"', Turnbull Library Record, v21 no1: 5-28.
- Harvey, R. (1993). 'Formula for Success: Economic Aspects of the Nineteenth-Century New Zealand Press', in An Index of Civilisation: Studies of Printing and Publishing History in Honour of Keith Maslen, ed. R. Harvey, W. Kirsop and B.J. McMullin (Melbourne: Centre for Bibliographical and Textual Studies, Monash University), pp. 207-222.
- Harvey, R. (1996). 'The Power of the Press in Colonial New Zealand: More Imagined than Real?', Bibliographical Society of Australia and New Zealand Bulletin, v20 no2: 130-145.
- Harvey, R. (1997). 'Newspapers' in Book & Print in New Zealand: A Guide to Print Culture in Aotearoa ed. P. Griffith, R. Harvey, K. Maslen (Wellington: Victoria University Press), pp. 128-136.
Later research attempted to place
early New Zealand newspapers in a wider context. The role they played
in the imperial press system and networks is examined in:
- Harvey, R. (1999). 'Peripatetic Pressmen: Some Trans-Tasman Connections in the Book Trade' in The Culture of the Book: Essays from Two Hemispheres in Honour of Wallace Kirsop ed. (Melbourne: Bibliographical Society of Australia and New Zealand), pp. 410-418.
- Harvey, R. (2003). 'Sources of "Literary" Copy for New Zealand Newspapers', Bibliographical Society of Australia & New Zealand Bulletin, v27 nos3-4: 83-93.
- Harvey, R. (2006). 'A Sense of Common Citizenship?: Mrs Potts of Reefton, New Zealand, Communicates With the Empire', in Media and the British Empire, ed C. Kaul (London: Palgrave Macmillan), pp. 190-204.
More recently he has investigated
connections between the Australia and New Zealand press. Two papers
presented at the 2005 Australian Media Traditions conference describe
this theme in more detail:
- Cryle, Denis. 'The ebb and flow of the Tasman mediasphere: A century of Australian and New Zealand print media development, 1840-1940', Australian Media Traditions Conference: Politics Media History, Canberra, 24-25 November 2005.
- Harvey, Ross. 'When media histories collide: Researching the development of print media in Australia and New Zealand, 1840-1940', Australian Media Traditions Conference: Politics Media History, Canberra, 24-25 November 2005.
Ross Harvey has also maintained an
interest in the Federal Standard (Chiltern), a newspaper established in
Chiltern (North-east Victoria) in 1859. This newspaper closed in 1970
and the property is currently owned by the National Trust of Australia.
He has published articles about the Federal Standard, one of which is:
- Harvey, R. (1999). 'The Federal Standard Story', Bibliographical Society of Australia and New Zealand Bulletin, v23 no4: 259-268.