Go local – southern style: Franklin newspapers then and now

The Auckland Heritage Festival 2012 might be over and the 'Black and White and Read All Over' newspaper tool kit published but we still have interesting heritage newspaper related stories to tell ....

In the early years of the last century, almost every New Zealand town supported its own newspapers, each with a strong local flavour and full of local information. The small towns of Franklin, to the south of the Auckland urban area, were no exception.

Franklin’s oldest newspaper was founded in Pukekohe in 1912. It was known as the Pukekohe & Waiuku Times until 1919, the Franklin & Pukekohe Times until 1921, and then simply as the Franklin Times until 1971, when it was absorbed into the South Auckland Courier family (the title was later briefly resurrected).

Ref: The Waiuku Advocate, 18 June 1914, South Auckland Research Centre

Further to the west, Waiuku’s first newspaper, the Waiuku Advocate was founded in 1914. This became the Waiuku News in 1915, which continued publication locally until 1964.

A number of other Franklin titles have since been published. These include the County News (1971-2), Franklin County News (1973- ) and Waiuku & Districts Post (latterly the Post) (1992- ), amongst many others.

Ref: The Waiuku Advocate, 18 June 1914, South Auckland Research Centre

So far, none of the older Franklin newspaper titles have been digitised. However, the entire Franklin Times can be consulted on microfilm at Pukekohe Library, as can all surviving copies of the Waiuku News at the South Auckland Research Centre. For details of holdings of other Franklin titles, check the Auckland Libraries catalogue (Franklin District (N.Z.) – Newspapers) or contact the South Auckland Research Centre.

Author: Bruce Ringer, South Auckland Research Centre