William Ernest Fairbridge JP (2 November 1863 – 5 October 1943) was a Rhodesian newspaper publisher and municipal official during the early British occupation of Southern Rhodesia.

A man, "whose indomitable pluck in the face of endless discouragements deserves an honourable place in the history of journalistic enterprise," he published Rhodesia's first newspaper, the Mashonaland Herald and Zambesian Times in 1891.

In 1890 he was appointed by the Argus Group of newspapers as the company's representative in Rhodesia and duly set out on a six-month journey on a scotch cart drawn by oxen from Mafeking to Fort Salisbury.

[3][4][5] Undeterred by the absence of even the most rudimentary printing equipment Fairbridge published the first issue of the Mashonaland Herald and Zambesian Times on 27 June 1891.

[6] Although the Mashonaland Herald was inevitably of variable quality, its success demonstrated the demand for a Rhodesian newspaper.