The shaping of public opinion about Aborigines and their portrayals in a country town newspaper: the case of the Wingham Chronicle, 1900-50

This article explores how Aborigines were depicted or portrayed over the first half of the twentieth century in The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer, a country newspaper of the mid-northern coast of New South Wales. At that time, local newspapers not only kept people informed but enabled readers to comment on local events or share a particular experience or knowledge. While the white community tended to accept the official position that Aboriginal people were a 'dying race' who had to be segregated, local people resisted it in their own ways. Indeed, their reminiscences enabled them to construct their own images of Aborigines and Aboriginality. The details found confirm the value of local papers as a source of information for historians.