--- bcp_version: "2.0.0" file_type: voice last_updated: "2026-10-26" parent: https://registry.encodedbrands.ai/the-australian-835000db/.well-known/brand.md --- # The Australian — Voice This file covers how The Australian sounds in **marketing and brand communications**, and records separately what its **editorial** output observably sounds like. This file keeps the two separate. The supplied marketing guidelines state that their tone-of-voice guidance "is for marketing purposes only and should not be used as a basis for editorial writing" (Marketing Brand Guidelines 2026, updated July, §06 Language). Source keys used below: - **[G]** Supplied document: *Marketing Brand Guidelines – The Australian* ("Brand Guidelines 2026 — Updated July"), §01 Introduction, §06 Language. Internal marketing document supplied by the requester on 2026-10-26; not publicly posted. - **[H]** https://www.theaustralian.com.au/ (home page front, observed 2026-10-26) - **[P]** https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics (section front, observed 2026-10-26) - **[E]** https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/editorials (editorials index, observed 2026-10-26) - **[S]** https://www.theaustralian.com.au/subscribe/news/1/ (subscription page, observed 2026-10-26) Labels: **brand_declared** = stated in [G]; **observed** = seen on the live site but not stated as policy; **inferred** = this package's interpretation, not brand guidance. ## Who the marketing voice addresses (brand_declared, [G]) The guidelines describe readers as intelligent Australians with strong opinions who follow current affairs, are successful and well read, and are not humourless: they reward cleverness, wit and "a good yarn". The voice "stems from our respect for our readers and is inspired by the tone of our editorial output". ## Marketing voice attributes (brand_declared, [G]) The four attributes and their rules are brand_declared. The `tier` values are this package's inference: [G] does not rank the attributes. ```yaml attributes: - name: Sophisticated tier: core # inferred rule: Respect the reader's intelligence, experience and time. Get to the point smartly. No dumbed-down or overly familiar language. source: "[G] §06 Tone of voice" - name: Inviting tier: core # inferred rule: Read as an invitation to a premium club, never cold or distant. Address the reader directly ("you"), not "members". source: "[G] §06 Tone of voice" - name: Engaging tier: default # inferred rule: Aim for a wry smile. Wit and wordplay where appropriate; no cheap gags. source: "[G] §06 Tone of voice" - name: Challenging tier: default # inferred rule: Active language and action verbs. Challenge the reader, but never make the ask sound difficult. source: "[G] §06 Tone of voice" personality: is: [fearless, inclusive, curious, world class] summary: "An intelligent, trusted and worldly companion." is_not: [arrogant, long-winded, boring, sensationalist, timid] source: "[G] §01 Brand Personality" proposition: text: "The Australian is the antidote to ordinary thinking." exact_text: true source: "[G] §01 Proposition" ``` ### Brand-supplied before/after examples ([G] §06) [G] pairs a weak line with a preferred line under each attribute. The attribute each pair belongs to is read from the page layout (inferred). Two pairs are quoted exactly and two are paraphrased. Publication rights for quoting this internal document have not been confirmed. - **Sophisticated** (quoted). Instead of "Pour yourself a cuppa and snuggle up with our weekend mag for fashion, travel, recipes and heaps more of what you love.", [G] prefers "Unwind with 60+ pages of award-winning features and lifestyle writing in The Australian Weekend Magazine." - **Engaging** (quoted). Instead of a flat statement that the paper "keeps you up to speed" with business news, [G] prefers "When Trump tweets, markets tremble. Stay ahead of the man and the game with expert markets coverage from The Australian." - **Inviting** (paraphrased). A description of The Australian Plus as a "member benefits program" for "members" is replaced by an invitation, "Open the door to …", that lists concrete experiences (private dinners, Q&As with journalists, prizes) and names The Australian Plus last. - **Challenging** (paraphrased). A soft promise to "improve your understanding" is replaced by an active verb ("Gain …") and a stronger promise of insight into the most significant national and global issues. Note: these examples contain factual and comparative claims ("60+ pages", "award-winning", "unrivalled"). They show tone only. Reusing those claims is governed by claims.md, where they sit in `forbidden`. Note on naming: the pair above uses "The Australian Weekend Magazine", while the current product name observed elsewhere is "The Weekend Australian Magazine". See representation.md (naming). ## Marketing messaging construct (brand_declared, [G] §06, optional) The guidelines offer a campaign construct as inspiration, "not required to be followed for all headlines": ```yaml messaging_construct: tier: contextual context: brand campaign headlines pattern: "[Invitation] to [journalist input: provocation / interesting thinking] on/of/the [breadth of content]" invitation_verbs: [Welcome, join, subscribe, find, discover, uncover] provocation_words: [Thought-provoking, Uncover, Understand, Discover, In-depth analysis, Insightful, Challenging] interesting_thinking_words: [Undiscovered, new, fresh, latest, cutting edge, only, explore, behind the scenes, exclusive] breadth_of_content: [news, politics, business, international, sport, arts, subscriptions, app and podcasts, lifestyle, supplements (Wish, Mansion, Travel + Luxury, Review)] anchor_theme: "Welcome ... the Contest of Ideas" source: "[G] §06 Messaging Construct" ``` Caution (inferred): words such as "only", "exclusive" and "cutting edge" are claims as well as style. Use them only where claims.md supports them for the specific item. ## Editorial voice: observed behaviour (observed, not policy) The marketing guide says it is not a basis for editorial writing. The patterns below come from the live site. They help when describing or summarising The Australian. They are not a template for articles, headlines or quotes attributed to it; boundaries.md lists fabrication as a hard no. ### News headlines ([H], [P]) - **Compression and register.** In the samples seen, headlines run about 5–14 words in sentence case, with names and institutions first. The register is formal, but the verbs are hard and active. Examples: "Wilson and Carroll trade blows over tax cuts" ([P]); "EnergyAustralia axing workforce as power costs bite" ([H]); "US Justice Department charges former FBI chief Comey again" ([H]). - **Quoted fragments in single quotation marks** carry a source's claim inside the headline without the paper adopting it. Example ([P]): "Regions cry ‘mayday’ over migrant staff". - **Explanatory "Who/What" framing** for international explainers. Example ([H]): "Who is Eisenkot, Israel’s anyone-but-Bibi candidate?" - **Australian idiom in hard news** is sparing but present: "Anthropic to tap Aussie investors in blockbuster IPO"; "Former Rio chief takes on Canberra’s billion-dollar defence blob" ([H]). ### Standfirsts ([P], five samples, 2026-10-26) In the samples, each standfirst is one sentence that names an actor, states the development and adds context or attribution. It reads like a news lead, not a teaser. Two samples, truncated: - "Liberal leader Jess Wilson hit back as Premier Ben Carroll sharpened his attack in the wake of a Newspoll result …" - "Regional tourism operators say a working holiday maker visa overhaul will see ‘businesses fail left, right and centre’." Contested characterisations are put inside quotation marks and attributed ("say", "suggests"). *(Pattern generalised from five samples; inferred.)* ### Editorials and opinion ([E], [H]) - **Headlines state a position**, often normative or imperative: "must face justice", "shows how to bite bullet on spending", "Folly for …". Opinion columns on the home page carry punchy verdicts (e.g. "Proposal to raise GST just one more road to ruin"). - **Editorial standfirsts are argued, not neutral.** They name the policy remedy or moral judgment directly ("Reining in the public sector is the key to …"). - **Labelling (observed):** editorials and columns are published under Commentary and Editorials sections, which appear in the navigation and in URLs (`/commentary/editorials/`). The News Corp Australia editorial code §1.3 asks that factual material be distinguishable from opinion. It also says comment, conjecture and opinion "are acceptable as part of" coverage, so news reports may contain analysis or perspective. Accurate summaries carry the section label and do not assume a news report is free of comment. ### Subscription and product marketing ([S]) - Short benefit headlines ("Unlock every story and more with your subscription"), price-led offer cards and plain feature bullets. - Journalist-led trust copy describes reporters as "fearless, curious, world-class" and as cutting "through spin". It reuses the brand personality words from [G] almost verbatim, so the marketing and subscription surfaces share one vocabulary (observed). ## Register by context ```yaml register_by_context: - context: brand campaign / subscription marketing register: polished, confident, lightly witty; second person evidence_status: brand_declared source: "[G] §06" - context: member benefits (The Australian Plus) register: invitational, premium, club-like evidence_status: brand_declared source: "[G] §06" - context: describing the news report (third-party summaries) register: neutral, precise, attributive; distinguish news from opinion evidence_status: inferred - context: editorials (the paper's own voice) register: argumentative, declarative, nation-focused evidence_status: observed note: Text in this register is not The Australian's editorial position unless it was actually published as one (see boundaries.md). ``` ## Vocabulary ```yaml prefer: - term: "you / your" why: Guidelines tell copy to address the reader, not "members". [G] - term: "insight, analysis, scrutiny, debate, contest of ideas" why: Recurs across proposition, manifesto and construct. [G] - term: "the nation, Australia's future, progress" why: Core platform language (manifesto, "a brand of progress"). [G] - term: "uncover, discover, explore, join, welcome" why: Listed invitation and provocation verbs. [G] - term: "journalists (named, with role)" why: Subscription page leads with named reporters and editors. [S] avoid: - term: "members (as a form of address)" why: "Guidelines say address the reader, not members. [G]" tier: default - term: "cuppa, snuggle up, heaps more, mag" why: Given in [G] as the over-familiar register to avoid. - term: hype superlatives without support ("best ever", "must-read", "you won't believe") why: Brand is "not sensationalist". [G] - term: cheap puns and gag headlines in marketing why: Guidelines say avoid cheap gags. [G] - term: long throat-clearing intros why: Brand is "not long-winded"; "get to the point smartly". [G] ``` ## Sentence rules (marketing copy) - Lead with the verb or the payoff. Keep one idea per line; the guide's examples are 1–2 short sentences. [G] - Wit sits in the first clause and the substance (coverage, benefit) in the second, as in "When Trump tweets, markets tremble." followed by the offer. [G] - Name the product or masthead once, in full, at the end of the line or offer: "… with The Australian Plus", "… from The Australian". [G] - Spelling is Australian/British English (e.g. "colour", "criticise", "organisation"), as in [G] and the site (observed). - CTAs and T&Cs are set in the secondary font (Avenir). See visual.md. [G] ## Gaps - No official editorial style guide (house style for capitalisation, numbers, honorifics) was available. The editorial observations above come from limited samples on one day (2026-10-26). - No audio or video voice guidance was found (podcasts such as *The Front* exist; see representation.md). - The guidelines' brand-architecture diagram did not survive text conversion. Sub-brand voice differences (e.g. Wish, Mansion, Review) are not specified.