The Pennant


The Pennant is a weekly newspaper published in Penola, South Australia, continuously since July 1946. Along with The Border Watch, it is now owned by the Scott Group of Companies.

History

The Pennant was founded by W. Erwin Thiele, who felt that a publication to service the town and local areas was needed after a "lack of communication from Mount Gambier and Naracoorte was evident". It was first published on Thursday, 25 July 1946, leading with a story about plans to upgrade Penola’s Memorial Hospital.
Kenneth Victor Dohnt, assumed control of the paper in 1950 and maintained it until his death in 1971. It was then controlled by Lyle Shurdington, a local and long-time employee, and in October 1978, it was taken over by South East Telecasters, whose major shareholder was Allan Scott, of the Scott Group of Companies.
Under the supervision of The Border Watch, it is now published every Wednesday and its head office is at 81 Commercial Street East, Mount Gambier.

Distribution

The newspaper advertises itself as "Circulating extensively throughout the Penola District Council Area, embracing Kalangadoo, Coonawarra, Nangwarry, Comaum, Glenroy, Monbulla and Maaoupe; and the South-East generally." It has a circulation of 1,000.

Digitisation

Microfilm of The Pennant have been created by the State Library of South Australia. Australian National Library also carries images and text versions of the newspaper from July 1946 to December 1955, accessible using Trove, the on-line newspaper retrieval service.