Ballarat is a city rich in history. It shines from its buildings and boulevards, breathes dignity into the present and adds solidity to its future. It is a history teeming with detail and crackling with events, so it is with no small pride that The Courier celebrates its own milestone of 150 years alongside a city that has notched no small number of them.
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Perhaps most significant of all, is that in this century and half of this history The Courier has been able to reflect this city; its events, its moods and people. In the heady days of gold and rebellion, other papers preceded it but The Courier, born in 1867, matured with the city and gradually saw its competition vanish. The years have seen other media come and go but none so important remain as The Courier in holding the mirror up to one of Victoria’s great cities.
What we know of history is it never sits still, change is its lifeblood. Ballarat has been full of change and The Courier has changed with it. While we are still inordinately proud of the newspaper that graces the café tables and front doorsteps of the city every day, it was worth noting the almost unbounded potential of the internet. A quick glimpse of some of the spectacular videos and photo galleries on display as part of our 150th celebrations over the next five weeks shows how these archives can be displayed like never before.
More importantly, digital platforms whatever form they take are no different from the epoch changing reach of Gutenberg’s press or Morse’s telegraph. They are opportunities for wider audiences and new ways of telling stories. We are in the information business and the means are better than ever to convey the news and stories that matter most to Ballarat.
With this in mind, it is worth considering the audience of The Courier is bigger than any point in its 150 year history. Online, this amounts to some astonishing numbers; consistent year on year growth in double figures, page views up to 7 million per month and unique users regularly over 400,000 per month. But even print readership continues to grow, with independent EMMA figures compiled by IPSOS showing Monday to Saturday readership growth of up to 12 percent.
All this adds up to one of the most successful newspapers in regional Australia. Why? Because in one sense it is doing what it always did; reflecting the city that gave it birth and continues to grow with it. It may not always be pretty but it is real. A chronicle of the times, a mirror to society, advocate for what matters, a herald of things to come. As such it is part of Ballarat and it is a history The Courier is proud to share.
