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Thank you for visiting NEWS.com.au, Australia’s No.1 news and information site. We take great pride in bringing you the latest reports from around Australia and the world and appreciate hearing your comments, suggestions and thoughts.

If you're asking a common question, chances are we’ve already answered it in our FAQ guide below.

OUR CONTENT:


ALTERNATIVE NEWS.COM.AU DELIVERY SERVICES:


CONTENT FOR YOUR OWN WEBSITE:


ADVERTISING AND COMMERCIAL OPPORTUNITIES:


PRIVACY:


TECHNICAL QUESTIONS:


NEWS ALERTS:


CONTACTING NEWS.COM.AU, A NEWSPAPER OR REPORTER:


RESEARCH:


OUR NEWSPAPERS:


CLASSIFIEDS:

If your question isn't answered above, please feel free to email us using the form here. Thanks again for visiting NEWS.com.au.

OUR CONTENT

Where do you source your news?

NEWS.com.au draws upon the global strength of News Corporation and the unparalleled news gathering resources of News Limited here in Australia to bring you reports from some of the nation's most experienced journalists.

The site has access to Australia's largest news gathering network, with News Limited's 3000 journalists, more than 100 newspapers, three wire services and a dedicated team of online reporters contributing reports.

We present the best content from across the News Limited newspaper network, with news, sport, business, entertainment and weather reports updated throughout the day, seven days a week. We also feature extended coverage of major events.

Newspapers that contribute to NEWS.com.au include The Australian, The Daily Telegraph, the Herald Sun, The Courier-Mail, The Advertiser, The Mercury and The Sunday Times. Reports from these papers are posted about 2am each day.

Our own reporting team brings you updates as events develop throughout each day, drawing upon our print network and the resources of Australian Associated Press, Associated Press and Agence France-Presse.

How often is NEWS.com.au updated?

NEWS.com.au is updated around the clock as news breaks.

Where can I find a story that appeared in one of your newspapers?

Selected stories from our newspapers appear on NEWS.com.au and across our masthead network (theaustralian.com.au, dailytelegraph.com.au, heraldsun.com.au, thecouriermail.com.au, theadvertiser.com.au, themercury.com.au, sundaytimes.com.au). If you cannot find a report on one of these sites, try our archive partner, Newstext. Charges apply if you decide to download an article.

Can you search for information for me?

We're not able to search for individual user's requests. If you're looking for a newspaper article, you may like to try Newstext, News Limited's online archive service. If you're looking for something on the web, try NEWS.com.au's web search.

How do I access your audio content?

Click here for our latest audio reports. Information on how to listen to the audio is listed under help on that page.

Why do you spell a certain word like that?

When variations exist, NEWS.com.au adopts one way of spelling a word. This house style ensures consistency across our site.

How can I tell you about a mistake in one of your stories or a broken link?

We take care to ensure mistakes don’t appear on our website. However, sometimes they slip through. If you spot an error, please let us know using this form.

What is AEST?

Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST) is 10 hours ahead of GMT. Queensland (including Brisbane), New South Wales (Sydney), Victoria (Melbourne), Tasmania (Hobart) and the Australian Capital Territory (Canberra) operate on AEST, except for the summer months when some states and territories move their clocks forward an hour. South Australia (Adelaide) and the Northern Territory (Darwin) operate on Central Standard Time (ACST), which is half an hour behind AEST. Western Australia (Perth) operates on Western Standard Time (AWST), which is two hours behind AEST.

ALTERNATIVE NEWS.COM.AU DELIVERY SERVICES

What alternative news delivery services do you have available?

Information about alternative ways you can access our news services is available at NEWS.com.au/tools.

Where is NEWS.com.au based?

NEWS.com.au’s Editor is based in Sydney, with online editors managing state and masthead-specific sections in each state. Our contributing newspapers have reporters in every state and territory, with correspondents in Bangkok, Beijing, Jakarta, London, Los Angeles, New York, Tokyo, Washington and Wellington.

How do I submit a press release to NEWS.com.au?

We welcome press releases via email at newsroom@NEWS.com.au. You can also post press materials to:

The news Editor
NEWS.com.au
Ground Floor, 235 Pyrmont Street
Pyrmont NSW 2009
We prefer not to receive press releases by facsimile.

How do I contact a reporter?

To contact a reporter on NEWS.com.au or any of our newspapers, please visit the "Contact Us" section of the relevant site.

CONTENT FOR YOUR OWN WEBSITE

Can I link to NEWS.com.au?

NEWS.com.au welcomes links from other sites on the web. You can also use our headlines to link to individual stories. Due to copyright restrictions, you should not reproduce the text of the story.

How can I add an RSS headline feed from your site to my company intranet or my website?

NEWS.com.au offers a free syndication service that lets you stream the latest headlines to your website or intranet 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

This service is easy to implement and offers great flexibility. Users are able to choose from feeds direct from our news, sport, business, IT, entertainment and other sites. To set-up this service on your site please complete the form found online at news.com.au/rssfeeds.

Custom content feeds are also available. Contact web content sales for further information using the form here.

Can I have permission to reproduce a story that appeared on NEWS.com.au?

Requests to reproduce articles by staff writers are considered on a case-by-case basis. Use this form to submit your request.

ADVERTISING AND COMMERCIAL OPPORTUNITIES 

Can I advertise on NEWS.com.au?

Advertising inquiries may be submitted using the online for at advertising.ni.com.au/ad_enquiry.html.

The News Digital Media sales team may also be contacted as below:

News Digital Media sales
2 Holt St
Surry Hills NSW 2010
Telephone: +61 2 9288 3000

Further information on our audience is available at advertising.ni.com.au.

OUR PRIVACY POLICY

How does NEWS.com.au protect my privacy?

We recognise the importance of protecting the privacy of personally identificable information collected about our customers, including visitors to our website. NEWS.com.au strictly abides to the privacy policy of our publisher, News Digital Media. The full text of the policy can be found at http://www.news.com.au/privacy/.

 

TECHNICAL QUESTIONS 

How can I make NEWS.com.au my homepage?

To make NEWS.com.au your homepage, go to the top tool bar within Internet Explorer, and select Tools. From the drop down menu select Internet options and enter www.news.com.au in the space under “homepage” then click on “ok”.

How do I adjust the sound on your website?

Go to your “Start” menu and select “Settings” and then “Control Panel” and then click on “Sounds and Audio devices”

How do I force the page to refresh?

Hold down the “Shift” key and click the “Refresh” or “Reload” button in your web browser. You can also force your browser to refresh every time a page loads.

In Internet Explorer, select Internet Options from the Tools menu and click on the General tab. Then click on Settings and select "Every visit to the page" under "Check for new versions of stored pages".

In Netscape Navigator, select Preferences from the Edit menu and click on the Advanced tab. Then select Cache, set the disk cache to 0 and select “Every time”.

What web browsers does NEWS.com.au support?

Internet Explorer 6+, Gecko based browsers such as Firefox 1.5+, and Opera 8+ on the PC platform. Other browsers are not actively tested to the same standards as supported browsers at this time.

NEWS ALERTS

Is there a Mac or Linux version?

Unfortunately not. Presently Skinkers plc is concentrating on the development of the Windows version of the software. However, we do plan to port the software over in the future.

I have downloaded the Skinker but it is not running. What's going wrong?

The program that is downloaded is in fact the Skinkers application installer, which must be run to install the application. Make sure you download this file to a memorable place (such as "Desktop" or "My Documents"). Once downloaded, double-click the file and follow the on screen instructions to install the Skinker

What is the right-click menu? How do I access it, and what is it for?

Using the right-click menu, you can access all of the available functions of the Skinker. These can vary from application to application but will always contain some standard options:
Show/Hide - Click this to either bring the character/icon onto the screen, or send it away again.
Settings - Allows you to change various Skinker configuration settings, or activate/deactivate available information channels Be Quiet|Snooze - Stop Skinker activity for a set period of time. This does not shut down the Skinker.
Help - Here you can find instructions and support for the application.
Exit|Shut Down - Shut down the Skinker totally. You will not receive any messages until it is restarted.
Message History|Last Viewed message - recall messages you have previously received.
Extras - from here you can access extra Skinker functions such as Uninstall, the Skinkers Privacy Statement, and application information as well as being able to change your answers to previously asked questions.
To access the right-click menu, right-click either the icon located in the system tray, or the character/icon that presents messages to you.

How do I access the Skinker's settings?

From the right-click menu choose the settings option. This could be called one of the following:
Settings
Options
Channels & Options

What are channels?

Much like a television, a Skinker can provide information through separate "opt-in" streams. For example, the application could have a news channel, a sports channel and an entertainment channel. To select the channels that are of interest to you, simply access the Skinker's settings and check or uncheck the boxes next to the channel names (if available).

6. What are news feeds?

News feeds are an easy way for you to keep track of the latest news from your favourite websites in one convenient place. RSS - which stands for Rich Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication - allows you to see the latest headlines from your favourite sites, and to then be able to click directly through to the articles that you want to read.

How do I add my own news feeds?

To add news feeds simply cut and paste the feed URL into the Options window or drag and drop the RSS icon onto any part of the message browser window, ticker or Options window.

I have installed the Skinker correctly, why haven't I received any messages?

There are a number of reasons why this may be happening: You could be accessing the Internet through a Proxy Server. By default the Skinkers application will use the same settings as Internet Explorer, so if you can access the Internet through the web browser, your Skinkers application should too. You may however need to manually enter the relevant details into the Skinkers application (Please check with your Network Administrator or ISP to find out if this is the case). To do this, follow these steps:
1. Access the Skinkers settings from the right click menu.
2. Click on "Use Proxy.." or "Proxy Settings" to open the proxy window.
3. Click the circle next to "Manually enter settings" and enter the details provided by your Network Administrator or ISP.
4. Click "OK" to close the Proxy Settings window, and close the Skinkers settings window.
Your Skinker, like your web browser, should now connect to the net through the Proxy Server and you should be able to receive messages.
Most messages are shown at a pre-set time/date. If your computer clock is wrong, messages will not be executed at the correct time. Make sure your time settings are correct by double-clicking the time in the system tray.
You may not have any channels checked.
PowerPoint is running. To stop messages from appearing during important presentations, the Skinkers application will not display anything while PowerPoint is running. If there is a message waiting, closing PowerPoint will make the message appear immediately.

Why doesn't my Skinker make any sound?

Some Skinkers have sounds, some don't. If you know your Skinker is meant to make some sounds, make sure:
You have a sound card in your computer
You have speakers plugged into the computer and they are turned on
You do not have the sound muted in Windows
The sound option (if present) is checked in the Skinker's settings.

The sound my Skinker is making is annoying, how can I turn it off?

To mute your Skinker, open the Skinker's settings and uncheck the "sound" option.

11. I closed a message by mistake, how do I recall it?

Simply access the right-click menu and choose the appropriate message from the Message History. Some older versions of the application will only allow you to recall the last viewed message.

How do I change my answer to questions I have been asked in the past?

From the right-click menu choose "Extras > Profile Manager". From here you can see some of the questions you have been asked. Selecting one of these will redisplay the question for you to change your answer.

I can't find the icon in the system tray anymore. Where has it gone?

There are 2 possible reasons why the Skinkers icon may have disappeared from the system tray: Windows XP has hidden it. To retrieve it, simply click the "<<" button in the system tray. "explorer.exe" has crashed and not correctly restored the icon. THE SKINKER IS STILL RUNNING. To retrieve the icon, you will need to stop the application and restart it. Windows 2000/XP users should follow these steps:
1. Hold down "CTRL + ALT + DEL".
2. In the resulting window, click the "Task Manager" button (in Windows XP Home Edition, you will automatically be taken to the Task Manager)
3. The Windows Task Manager will appear. Click the "Processes" tab.
4. Click the column title named "Image Name" to alphabetically order the processes.
5. You must find the process related to your Skinker. This is commonly called "skinkers.exe", but may be named according to the application. e.g. the BBC Comedy Robot uses a process called "bbccomedy.exe".
6. Once you have found the process, simply highlight it and click "End Process". A warning will appear and you should click "Yes".
7. Now the Skinker has been stopped, you can relaunch it from the Windows Start Menu.

My personal firewall flagged the fact that the Skinker is trying to connect to the Internet. Why?

The Skinkers application needs to contact the Internet occasionally to see if there are any messages it needs to display. If there are, and these messages contain multimedia content, the Skinker will also download these assets in the background. The application will also send back anonymous statistics (such as the number of clicks on a particular link) to our server. These are the only reasons why the Skinker needs to access the Internet so you should allow it through your firewall.

Ever since installing Service Pack 2 on Windows XP, my Skinker has stopped displaying messages. How do I get it working again?em>

Service Pack 2 introduces a Microsoft's new Security Centre, which includes a personal firewall (Windows Firewall), stopping malicious applications from accessing the Internet. Sometimes Windows Firewall will also stop your Skinker from accessing the Internet to retrieve messages. To restore it's permissions follow these steps:
1. From the Windows Start Menu, choose "Control Panel" (or "Settings > Control Panel if using the "Classic Start Menu").
2. Click the icon named "Security Centre".
3. In the resulting window, click the "Windows Firewall" link.
4. The Windows Firewall settings panel will appear. From here choose the "Exceptions" tab.
5. Click the "Add Program..."
6. In the following list find the Skinkers application you are running, highlight it and click "OK"
7. Click OK again, close the Security Centre and close Control Panel.

The Skinkers application is causing my computer to dial up to the Internet without me knowing. How do I stop this from happening?

There is an easy way to stop your computer from trying to automatically establish a connection:
1. From the Windows Start Menu, choose "Control Panel" (or "Settings > Control Panel if using the "Classic Start Menu").
2. Select "Network and Internet Connections > Internet Options" (or "Internet Properties" if using a Windows version earlier than XP).
3. Click the Connections tab, then click the circle beside "Never dial a connection".
4. Click OK to save and close the window. After you've done this, to go online simply click on your dial up connection. It is recommended you do this as otherwise you could allow other software applications to automatically dial up for malicious purposes.

What port does the Skinker use to access the Internet?

Port 80.

Is the Skinker storing all of the messages on my computer? Will I run out of space?

No. Once a message has been "bumped" out of the message history, all assets relating to that message are deleted.

Does the Skinker contain adware, spyware or viruses? Are you uploading my personal information without my knowledge/consent?

No, the Skinkers application does not contain any type of malware. The only information the application uploads are anonymous statistics. Please see our privacy policy for details.

Is the Skinkers application using a lot of system resources?

No. The application uses very little system memory (usually between 5 and 10 megabytes), its CPU usage is very low and the hard disk space used will rarely exceed 20 megabytes.

When I click on a link sent to me by the Skinker, nothing happens. Why?

Some users, AOL users in particular, may have an unsupported browser associated with links or not have one set up at all. Follow these steps to fix this issue:
1. From the Windows Start Menu, choose "Control Panel" (or "Settings > Control Panel if using the "Classic Start Menu" or a Windows version earlier than XP).
2. Select "Network and Internet Connections > Internet Options" (or "Internet Properties" if using a Windows version earlier than XP).
3. On that window, select the "Programs" tab.
4. Make sure you tick the box next to "Internet Explorer should check to see whether it is the default browser".
5. Start Internet Explorer and choose "Yes".
6.(If using another browser such as Mozilla, Netscape, Firefox or Opera please refer to the relevant help section in those applications to set them as the default browser).

Some of the text in the messages seems not to fit in the window and there are no scrolling options to go view the bottom of the message. Why is that?

You may have large fonts setup in your display settings. To revert to small fonts, you need to do the following:
1. From the Windows Start Menu, choose "Control Panel" (or "Settings > Control Panel if using the "Classic Start Menu" or a Windows version earlier than XP).
2. Select "Appearance and Themes > Display" (or "Display" if using a Windows version earlier than XP).
3. Select the Settings tab.
4. Click the "Advanced" button.
5. Change Display Font Size to Small Fonts.
6. Click Apply/OK and Reboot.
(Note: this will also change the font size of all of your desktop icons etc)

Why does my Skinker character/icon hide itself after a few minutes even if I don't touch it?

The Skinkers application is programmed to hide the character/icon after few minutes to prevent it from getting in the way. It can always be recalled by choosing Show/Hide from the right-click menu.

Why do videos not play?

The Skinkers application is able to display videos in a number of formats using Windows Media Player. However, you may need to install extra software (known as codec's) on your computer to support these formats. Please go to the following URL to download the most up-to-date codec's from Microsoft:

Why doesn't the "send to a friend" function work??

Unfortunately, the send to a friend function is not supported by certain email clients, such as AOL and Lotus Notes

I want to uninstall the Skinker, how do I do that?

There are 3 ways to uninstall the Skinkers application.
1. From Windows Add/Remove Programs, located in the Control Panel (please consult Windows help for information on how to do this).
2. From the Start Menu. When it is installed, the Skinkers application creates an uninstall icon in its program group in the Start Menu. Clicking this will start the uninstallation process.
3. From the right-click menu, select "Extras > Uninstall" and follow the onscreen instructions.

RESEARCH

How can I search for previous newspaper articles on NEWS.com.au?

Past newspaper articles are available News Limited's online news archive service Newstext at www.newstext.com.au.

Please note that Newstext is a text-only editorial archive, and contains no advertisements, classifieds, public notices, photographs, graphics or tables. If you need to review any of these items you will need to view back issues of our publications.

Back issues of our publications are available on microfilm at your nearest State Library, and most local community libraries can assist in obtaining recent copies of newspapers. School, TAFE and university libraries may also be of assistance.

Can I purchase photos I have seen online or in the newspaper?

Photos published on our sites and in News Limited newspapers are available for sale for personal use, via www.newsphotos.com.au.

To purchase photos for professional use — please visit www.newspix.com.au.

 

CONTACTING NEWS.COM.AU, A NEWSPAPER OR A REPORTER

Where is NEWS.com.au based?

NEWS.com.au’s Editor is based in Sydney, with online editors managing state and masthead-specific sections in each state. Our contributing newspapers have reporters in every state and territory, with correspondents in Bangkok, Beijing, Jakarta, London, Los Angeles, New York, Tokyo, Washington and Wellington.

How do I submit a press release to NEWS.com.au?

We welcome press releases via email at newsroom@NEWS.com.au. You can also post press materials to:

The news Editor
NEWS.com.au
Ground Floor, 235 Pyrmont Street
Pyrmont NSW 2009
We prefer not to receive press releases by facsimile.

How do I contact a reporter?

To contact a reporter on NEWS.com.au or any of our newspapers, please visit the "Contact Us" section of the relevant site.

OUR NEWSPAPERS

Which newspapers form your network?

News Limited publishes more than 100 newspapers in Australia, including:

  • The Australian, Australia’s national daily
  • The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph in New South Wales
  • The Herald Sun, Sunday Herald Sun, MX and The Weekly Time in Victoria
  • The Courier-Mail, The Sunday Mail, The Gold Coast Bulletin, The Townsville Bulletin and The Cairns Post in Queensland
  • The Advertiser and Sunday Mail in South Australia
  • The Mercury and The Sunday Tasmanian in Tasmania
  • The Sunday Times in Western Australia
  • The NT News and Centralian Advocate in the Northern Territory; and
  • Cumberland, Leader, Quest and Messenger community newspapers.

How do I contact a journalist at one of your newspapers?

Many of our newspaper sites have a specific contacts page for their reporters.

A comprehensive list of our newspaper sites may be found at NEWS.com.au/newspapers/ To contact a NEWS.com.au reporter, please use the feedback form at NEWS.com.au/contactus/

Where can I find corporate information about News Limited and News Corporation?

The corporate information such as annual reports may be found at: www.newscorp.com.

How can I find out about employment opportunities at NEWS.com.au and News Limited newspapers?

Positions can be found on the News Limited page of our employment site www.CareerOne.com.au. Positions may be found for these jobs at http://www.careerone.com.au/jobs/job-search/news.

Are all sections of your newspapers available online?

There is some material from the printed versions of our newspapers that does not appear online; some photos, graphics and tabular data; syndicated comics and columns that does not have permission to reproduce electronically. Similarly, not all material available may be found in our newspapers.

CLASSIFIEDS

How often are your classified notices updated?

Classifieds that appear on our classifieds pages at news.com.au/classifieds are updated daily or weekly depending on how frequently the newspaper they originally appeared in is published.

For example, classified notices from the Daily Telegraph are updated daily and classifieds from the Sunday Telegraph are updated weekly. Saturday classifieds are also updated weekly.

How can I look for an old ad?

For notices published online outside these time periods you may need to review back issues of our newspaper publications.

These are available on microfilm at your nearest state library. Most local community libraries can assist in obtaining recent copies of newspapers. School, TAFE and University libraries may also be of assistance.

How can I place a classifieds ad online?

To place a classifieds ad in any of our newspapers, please use our “Place an Ad” form available at placeanad.news.com.au/servlet/jsp/placeanad.jsp

How can I find out the cost of placing a classifieds ad in one of your newspapers?

Rate details for classifieds may be at newsmedianet.com.au/network.jsp. For more specific rate details please contact the relevant newspaper classified team directly on the contact numbers available at news.com.au/classifieds

How can I request a tax invoice for a classifieds ad I placed?

Please contact the relevant classifieds team on the numbers provided at news.com.au/classifieds.

How can I cancel a classifieds ad I have placed ?

Please contact the relevant classifieds team on the numbers provided at news.com.au/classifieds.

I can't find a classifieds ad online.

There is some material from the classified section of our newspapers is not included to run on-line. Also display classifieds ads do not appear online.

OUR PRIVACY POLICY

How does NEWS.com.au protect my privacy?

We recognise the importance of protecting the privacy of personally identificable information collected about our customers, including visitors to our website. NEWS.com.au strictly abides to the privacy policy of our publisher, News Digital Media. The full text of the policy can be found at http://www.news.com.au/privacy/.

 

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