The Morning Bulletin
| Company type | Digital news outlet |
|---|---|
| Industry | News media |
| Founded | July 9, 1861 |
| Founder | William Hitchcock Buzacott |
| Headquarters | Rockhampton , Australia |
| Products | News publication (digital) |
| Owner | News Corp Australia |
The Morning Bulletin operates as a digital news outlet catering to Rockhampton and the wider Central Queensland region in Australia. Currently owned by News Corp Australia, the publication ceased its print edition in June 2020 to fully embrace an online format.
History
Established on 9 July 1861 by William Hitchcock Buzacott (1831–1880), who transported printing machinery from Sydney, the newspaper initially served Rockhampton’s population of 698 under the title Rockhampton Bulletin and Central Queensland Advertiser. It underwent several name changes before settling on The Morning Bulletin in 1878.
Originally housed on Quay Street, the paper’s first premises were destroyed by fire in 1862, necessitating a move to a brick building on Denham Street. By 1926, operations had returned to a newly constructed, heritage-listed Bulletin Building on Quay Street.
Printing processes were relocated in 2007 to upgraded facilities situated in Kawana’s industrial district. After nearly 88 years at the Bulletin Building, staff moved in March 2014 to a temporary office on Fitzroy Street, followed later that year by a transition to a smaller workspace at 220 Bolsover Street, shared with prominent financial and real estate companies.
In August 2015, entrepreneur Bevan Slattery purchased the former Bulletin Building with intentions to transform it into a startup business hub.
News Corp announced in May 2020 that The Morning Bulletin would discontinue its print version and transition to a subscription-based digital platform. To compensate for this shift, The Courier-Mail introduced a regional print edition featuring news from Central Queensland. The last printed copy was issued on 27 June 2020, coinciding with the shutdown of the Rockhampton Print Centre.
Following this digital transformation, Emma McBryde took over as editor from Melanie Plane.
Digitisation
Archived editions of the newspaper up until the end of 1954 have been digitised through the Australian Newspapers Digitisation Program managed by the National Library of Australia.
"30,000 pigs" incident
In 2011, The Morning Bulletin attracted criticism for erroneously reporting that a farmer near Baralaba, Queensland had lost 30,000 pigs due to flooding. The paper subsequently issued a correction clarifying that the actual loss was thirty sows and pigs rather than thirty thousand.
This mistake and subsequent apology received widespread media attention, including coverage on ABC's Media Watch and satire on the ABC comedy series Lowdown. Australian country musician Keith Jamieson produced a comedic track titled "Thirty Sows & Pigs" inspired by the event, which won "Best Comedy Release" at the 2016 Bungendore Country Music Muster & Awards.
Internationally, the story was featured in a segment of BBC’s comedy panel show QI (Series M, Episode 5 - Maths) in 2015. Additionally, in 2011, an employee at the University of Pennsylvania described losing such a vast number of pigs as "biblical."
Clown depiction controversy
On 27 October 2016, The Morning Bulletin sparked national debate by portraying Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull as a clown under the headline: "Stop Clowning Around Malcolm: It's time you got serious about giving CQ a Fair Go". The front page displayed an oversized image of Turnbull dressed as a clown alongside an open letter from "The Morning Bulletin (on behalf of the people of Central Queensland)". This caricature was also included within the online letter.
The depiction led Rockhampton mayor Margaret Strelow to issue a public apology to Turnbull during his visit to the city. Speaking on local radio station 4RO, Strelow emphasized that the cartoon did not represent community views and affirmed that Central Queensland residents welcomed his presence. Turnbull accepted her apology but remarked it was unnecessary.
This episode followed shortly after ex-cartoonist Rod Emmerson gained international attention for illustrating Michael Cheika as a clown in The New Zealand Herald, which elicited a strong defensive reaction from Cheika.