170 years strong: Illawarra Mercury marks a local news milestone

Illawarra Mercury journalists reflect on the role the publication has in the community, amid the 170th anniversary celebrations.

Transcript

00:00The Mercury is really important to the community because it records the first draft of the city's

00:06history, the region's history, and we're also pretty instrumental in advocating for change

00:12where it needs to occur. I guess in my 30 odd years of being here I've seen a lot of changes from

00:18back in the days of Keira Street in the office there where they actually had a great big printing

00:22press on the floor and if you're working night shift you could actually go out and watch them

00:26print it and pull a paper off the printing press still get ink on your fingers. Every time I tell

00:32someone that I work for the Mercury or someone asks where I work and I say the Mercury they happen to

00:36know someone else who worked here or even people who have had my job in the past. I've had the

00:41privilege of interviewing people at the best times of their life and the worst and that's had a really

00:50huge impact on me personally. We're a team of local people who live here in this community.

00:55We know the issues that affect you and the stories that are important to you and that helps us to

01:00advocate for the community from the inside and we set the news agenda for the region. Every day I'm at

01:06the scene of police incidents, fire, rescue, breaking news emergencies and I know how important it is to

01:14bring you the timely and accurate information that you need. I feel very passionate about regional

01:19journalism and being able to tell stories of local people in smaller communities outside of the urban

01:25areas. The thing I love most about working here is that everyone's just got this get out and go get

01:31the news attitude and it's really fun to sort of be a part of everything. They've all been absolutely

01:36great people dedicated to their craft, writing amazing stories and becoming part of that family. It's

01:48actually what's kept me here 36 years. The Illawarra Mercury has been there for the Illawarra for 170

01:56years. That's 170 years of being at footy games, council meetings, there when there are floods, when there are

02:04fires, when there are school concerts. We've been with the community through it all. It's been a privilege

02:11and an honour for me to spend the last 20 odd years working at the Mercury documenting our stories and

02:17giving those in the community a voice. Small community newspaper, I'm really proud of it. It's also held up

02:27a mirror to those as well in the community of the best and worst that we can be. More than a community

02:31papers covered a lot of national and international events. It keeps an eye on the local businesses, the local

02:40councils. The general public aren't going to look through council papers or watch three-hour council

02:44meetings themselves so I think we provide a service to the community in that way. We hope that you'll

02:50come along with us and enjoy the celebration as we mark 170 years and we thank you for your support.