More than 100 people gathered at the Ballarat Mining Exchange on Saturday night to take a look back at the history of The Courier as it celebrates its 150th year of publication.
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Staff from all eras of the paper came together with prominent members of the community to recount old battle stories and acknowledge the impact the publication has had on Ballarat.
A panel made up of current and former editors alongside former managers discussed some of the newspaper’s biggest moments, ranging from the Queen’s visit in 2000 to the flooding of the former printing press in the 1990s.
Ted Cavey, who edited the publication between 1981 to 1990 after coming from The Age, recalled one of his biggest stories when he discovered a television production company recreating the Eureka Stockade set out to shoot the miniseries in Bendigo, causing national uproar.
Mr Cavey said regional reporters were more accountable to their communities than their metropolitan counterparts given their intimate relationships.
“Here you get away with nothing, and that’s good because The Courier is such a big part of the community and it represents people’s day to day lives,” Mr Cavey said.
Among those who gathered to pay tribute to the paper was long serving former photographer Herman Ruyg, who worked from 1955 to to 1997.
“Local people want to know about about local things,” Mr Ruyg said. “Most people in Melbourne couldn’t name any of their councillors, yet you have that connection in regional areas.”
