Sun (Auckland)

Buoyed by the success of the Sun newspaper in Christchurch, its proprietors decided in the mid-1920s to start a similar paper in Auckland. The Sun had been founded in 1914 by the Australian journalist Edward C Huie (1876-1967) who left the Evening News in Christchurch, frustrated that they were not interested in his ideas about livelier journalism and layout. He based his new paper on London’s Daily Mail.

A decade later, with the Sun well-established in Christchurch, Huie investigated the possibility of starting a new paper in Auckland. Concluding that Aucklanders would appreciate the journalistic style of the Sun, Huie, in the position of managing director of Sun Newspapers Ltd, moved north and began to raise capital for the newspaper and a new building for its offices. The Sun’s Auckland building, on the corner of Albert and Wyndham Streets, was designed by the architectural firm Chilwell and Trevithick and described by the newspaper as being in the ‘industrial gothic’ style. It was a four-storey white building featuring a corner turret topped with a flag and the paper boasted proudly of the more than 200 windows that flooded the workspaces with light.

The first issue of the Sun (Auckland) was published on 23 March 1927. The Otago Daily Times reported that the news columns of the 24-page Sun ‘…bear witness that a large and competent staff has been got together in all departments.’ (Otago Daily Times, 29 March 1927: 10) The staff were led by editor Percy Crisp (1892-1955) who moved from his role as editor of the Sun in Christchurch to Auckland.

The Sun (Auckland) stood out from the other Auckland dailies by placing news rather than advertisements on the front page. Like its Christchurch counterpart, the newspaper was said to represent an advanced type of journalism for New Zealand, with the Gisborne Times noting the paper ‘…will be more spectacular than we are familiar with locally, but in the main, the news will be the same. The advent of the new company brings a breeze to the newspaper world of Auckland, and if it fails it is certain that it will not be for the lack of courage or application, but simply because Auckland, as most people believe, is adequately catered for by the existing newspapers.’ (Gisborne Times, 24 March 1927: 4)

The journalistic style of the Sun was popular with Aucklanders, but the Depression took its toll on advertising revenue. Staff took a 10% pay cut in July 1930 but it wasn’t enough to keep the paper going. Despite the efforts of Huie to secure substantial advertisers, the last issue was published on 20 September 1930. Neither the editor nor the staff knew in advance that the Saturday paper was to be the last. Huie himself wrote the farewell leader, entitled ‘A Last Word’ (20 September 1930: 8)

New Zealand Newspapers, owner of the Sun’s rival, the Auckland Star, bought the buildings, plant, copyright, and goodwill of the Sun for around £62,000 and the Sun (Auckland) was immediately incorporated into the Star.

For a time, litigation over the value of the Sun building in Auckland looked like risking the Sun company in Christchurch. But the two parties eventually settled and the Sun (Christchurch) continued for another four years, before also being sold to New Zealand Newspapers and becoming part of the new Christchurch Star-Sun.