‘One of the great newspapers’: The Age celebrates its grand history, and looks to a bright future

On October 17, 1854, there was excitement in Melbourne, the beating heart of a colony riding its luck through an era of gold rush prosperity.

A public holiday had been declared to mark the opening of the Melbourne Exhibition, housed in a rapidly assembled glass building on the corner of William and Little Lonsdale streets, across from what is now Flagstaff Station.

The first edition of The Age was printed in the city’s first exhibition building, known as the “Crystal Palace” and depicted on a wood engraving by Samuel Calvert.Credit: The Illustrated Australian News

On that day, in the exhibition hall of that building 170 years ago, the first edition of The Age rolled off the printing press, promising a publication “dedicated to the record of great movements, advocacy of free institutions, diffusion of truth, advancement of man”.

Although it is a profoundly different publication now to the one first printed in 1854, that original promise remains part of the fabric of The Age. It is one that our staff know well due to its prominence on the walls of our newsroom. It was the genesis of the lore that grew around this masthead, nurtured and enhanced over generations by journalistic greats and dedicated supporters. People like David Syme, Graham Perkin, Michelle Grattan and Nick McKenzie, who have made indelible contributions to the story of our city, our state, our nation. The contribution of these dedicated journalists and hundreds of others like them in the 170 years since has surpassed even the loftiest aspirations of anyone involved in that first edition.

Today, The Age begins a celebration of its history and future, with a series of special reports about the masthead and the characters behind its success. This series has been lovingly commissioned and compiled by deputy editor Orietta Guerrera, and I commend it to you.

Newspapers sometimes dwell on their histories as a way of reliving a time when their subscriber base was waxing and their influence on society was at its zenith. A history of 170 years is worth celebrating and remembering, but the burgeoning community of subscribers to The Age has plenty to celebrate and much to look forward to. The Age is enjoying halcyon days. Readers are subscribing to this publication in droves and, only yesterday, we reported on the latest step in a major Fair Work investigation into alleged corruption in the union movement, prompted by a groundbreaking investigation led by Age journalists.

The 2024 Age trainees (from left): Brittany Busch, Hannah Hammoud, Hannah Kennelly, Angus Delaney and Gemma Grant.Credit: Simon Schluter

But The Age hasn’t always been so prosperous. One veteran colleague, Mark Fuller, tells me about a time in the early ’90s when company-issued business cards contained the footnote “administrators and receivers appointed”. Stories like this serve as a warning of the fragility of institutions like ours, and a reminder to all of us entrusted with the stewardship of this masthead of our duty to ensure it remains healthy. In a splintered media landscape where any con artist with a keyboard can influence public opinion, the survival of The Age’s commitment to truth, integrity and the public good is more important than ever.

Someone who has been in the journalism game a lot longer than I – Australia’s greatest crime reporter John Silvester – claims our publication is in the middle of a golden era of historically significant journalism. No publication could claim to have done more to hold power to account in Australia in recent years. Journalists like McKenzie, Michael Bachelard, Sarah Danckert, Chris Vedelago, Wendy Tuohy, Annika Smethurst, Chip Le Grand, Jake Niall and many others continue to uphold The Age’s great traditions. Silvester, too, is still breaking stories after about 45 years on the beat – most recently with the scoop on the arrest in Rome of a man suspected of the 1977 Easey Street murders.

Our five new trainee journalists, carefully selected from hundreds of applications for our 2024 intake, are already prospering. I have no doubt they will continue to uphold the great traditions of The Age and make their own contributions to its lore and legend in the decades to come.

Robert Menzies’ quote on a wall in The Age newsroom.Credit: The Age

There is a quote from 1954, affixed to the wall of our newsroom, that acknowledges The Age’s great history and its desire to continue to improve the lives of its readers and society as a whole. The words belong to Australia’s longest-serving prime minister, Robert Menzies.

“The Age is one of the great newspapers. It has traditions, but it is not their slave. It is liberal, not conservative and has struck many stout blows at privilege and injustice.”

Our journalists continue to strike these blows in spite of criticism from vested interests and one-eyed activists because those journalists know that the truth can shape our state and our country for the better. They are willing to do what is right, irrespective of what is popular. That was the case when The Age stood up against the clandestine slave trade, the so-called blackbirding of tens of thousands of workers from the Pacific in the 1880s, condemning “the curse of forced labour”. And it is the case now when The Age stands up for its readers against poor government decisions, mismanagement, corruption, war criminals and malignant forces in the union movement.

On behalf of those who continue to devote their lives to the success of this great publication, I give our readers and supporters this assurance: We will continue to uphold the best traditions of The Age with momentous journalism, but we refuse to stagnate or dwell on past successes. We are proud of our traditions, but will not shy away from innovation. We will celebrate life, leisure and the successes of our community, while being honest about its flaws and exposing its dark recesses. We will meet our audience where they are and tell Melbourne’s stories with the care and accuracy our readers deserve. With your support, we will work to ensure The Age continues “diffusing the truth” and “striking stout blows at privilege and injustice” for another 170 years.

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