Australian newspaper apologises for coverage of Aboriginal massacre

An Australian newspaper has offered a historic apology for its coverage of a massacre of Aboriginal people in 1838.

At least 28 people, mainly women and children, were brutally murdered in the New South Wales town of Myall Creek.

The massacre was the first - and only - time colonists were prosecuted for mass killings of Aboriginal people.

The Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) admitted to spreading racist views and misinformation while campaigning for the killers to escape justice.

The masthead, which is one of the nation's oldest publications, also opposed the death sentence eventually handed down to seven of the 12 men involved.

"This was not due to a lack of evidence or genuine doubts over the integrity of any legal process, but because the perpetrators were white and the dead black," the paper said in an editorial on Friday.

"The Herald has a long and proud history of telling the Australian story. But on Myall Creek, the truth is we failed dismally."