The Whangarei Comet and Northern Advertiser was founded in 1875 as a weekly paper by George Alderton and, despite a small population which led to a prediction the paper "would go up like a comet, and come down like a stick",[3] the paper flourished and within two years had expanded to 12 pages and become the Northern Advocate and General Advertiser, with a small section printed in Māori.

On Monday, 23 April 2012, the weekday Northern Advocate changed to tabloid format.

After a long period of decline, owner NZME announced in 2024 that major staff cuts would be made to the Advocate alongside other regional newspapers.

The Whangarei Report is a weekly tabloid-format community paper, delivered free on Thursdays to all homes south of the Brynderwyns, across to Dargaville and north to Ōakura, Northland.

[3] The Northland Age is a twice-weekly broadsheet community paper, delivered free on Tuesdays and Thursdays to all retailers and homes in Kerikeri, the Bay of Islands area down to Moerewa in the south.