Adelaide saw a brave new world five years ago, when 150 small investors started a weekly newspaper to break Rupert Murdoch’s comfortable monopoly in South Australia.

News Ltd’s daily Advertiser, the Sunday Mail and its unopposed suburban newspaper chain Messenger had the market to themselves, often dictating the political and social agenda as well as being the only market for print advertisers.

The Independent Weekly relished in the fight, becoming not just an alternative newspaper but a strong media company in its own right, with an award-winning team of journalists, a range of specialist publications, and of course a range of Internet news services including Indaily, which goes to subscribers and on-line mid-morning.

Yesterday, Indaily had a scoop, a genuine exclusive. It reported that John Mountford, a former chaplain of an exclusive Anglican school in Adelaide, had been found murdered in the Libyan capital of Tripoli.

Mountford was the subject of a celebrated child abuse case which ultimately saw the resignation of Adelaide’s Anglican archbishop, Ian George.

Mountford was charged with five counts of indecent assault, two of procuring the commission of an act of gross indecency and one of unlawful s-xual intercourse, but the charges were withdrawn following concerns about the state of mind of his accuser, David Martin, a former St. Peter’s student.

The Indaily story reported Mountford’s Adelaide friends saying say he was stabbed to death in his Tripoli apartment after returning from London to celebrate his mother’s birthday.

Immediately the story went on-line, Adelaide newsrooms quoted from it on radio news and talkback, and without exception attributed it to Indaily and The Independent Weekly.

Not so New Ltd’s Adelaide Now, The Advertiser’s website.

Minutes after Indaily went out, Adelaide Now reporter Andrew Dowell had the same story on the News Ltd site.

And when we say the same story, we mean the same story.

“Charges against Mountford in South Australia were withdrawn in August 2007 following concerns about the state of mind of his accuser, David Martin, a former St. Peter’s student,” said the Indaily story.

“Charges against Mountford in South Australia were withdrawn in August 2007 following concerns about the state of mind of his accuser, David Martin, a former St. Peter’s student,” copied Andrew Dowell under his own by-line.

“Mountford was charged with five counts of indecent assault, two of procuring the commission of an act of gross indecency and one of unlawful s-xual intercourse,” said Indaily.

“Mountford was charged with five counts of indecent assault, two of procuring the commission of an act of gross indecency and one of unlawful s-xual intercourse,” plagiarised Dowell.

News Ltd was completely unrepentant when contacted by Indaily.

News Ltd’s resources dwarf The Independent Weekly’s, with thousands of times more resources available to it than to the upstart five year-old. The battle for on-line and print media readership and advertising is as fiercely competitive in South Australia as it is in London or Sydney or New York. With a significant scoop involving local and international sources, The Independent Weekly poked News Ltd in the eye.

News Ltd’s response was to plagiarise, and look the other way.