Our Commitment
THE very first issue of the Hobarton
Mercury - on Wednesday, July 5, 1854 - made a simple but solemn promise to its readers: “We desire to do all the good we can.” Today, 164 years later, this ambition retains its relevance - as it has done for every single one of the 59,765 days since that first Mercury was printed.
Every day, our dedicated – Tasmanian – team comes to work determined to do all the good we can in serving this state that we love. And because of that hard work by the thousands of Tasmanians who have clocked on for a shift at the Mercury, our story is the story of a newspaper that has proudly been a central part of life in this town that has become a city, this colony that has become a state, this island that has become a world-renowned destination.
Generations of Tasmanians have shared in our pages their family news – births, deaths and marriages. The Mercury’s printing arm has meanwhile turned out many iconic items including apple crate labels, and Cadbury chocolate wrappers. And no matter how much things have changed over those almost 164 years in this most beautiful of islands, the role of the Mercury in the life of Tasmania has always been clear: We’re for Tasmania. We’re for you.
A lot has changed, of course. More than 200,000 Tasmanians each month still do what you’re doing and read the Mercury in print – but a similar number again these days choose to stay informed by accessing our news via themercury.com.au on their desktop, tablet or mobile phone. We’re
As Tasmanians ourselves, we at the Mercury are also not afraid to stick up for our island.
proud of that result, because we’ve always been at the cutting edge of technology. Tasmania’s first radio station broadcast from a studio in the Mercury building in 1924, and the state’s first television station was established in 1960 by the
Mercury and two business partners. Change has always been a part of life for us. The first news arrived in our newsroom via telegraph in 1860, we introduced front page news in 1939, computerised production in 1977, and full-colour printing in 1993. Four years later, we launched our website – and we started offering digital subscriptions in 2016.
What has never changed is our commitment to putting it all on the line to tell you what’s going on in Tasmania. When the Tasman Bridge came down on that fateful night in 1975, Mercury photographer Barry Winburn walked to the edge while the structure was still shaking to capture the best shot. After evil struck at Port Arthur in 1996, it was our