In early September 1990, Margaret Cott, editor of influential Sydney street press On the Street, stormed into the office of publisher Noel Crabbe and told him she was quitting.
Tensions at the free magazine had been growing for some time, but the reasons she walked outside are perhaps less interesting than what she found there: waiting for her on the pavement was the entire editorial staff – writers Michael Smith and Jack Marx, photographer Tony Mott, along with a slew of others. Cott had built such loyalty in her near-10 years at the helm that her team quit in solidarity and decided to launch their own magazine. Drum Media would go on to become the most influential street press title of them all, heralding the beginning of the industry’s golden era.
