On October 11, The Sun-Herald is set to blow out 70 birthday candles, marking seven decades of informing and entertaining its readers.
From major news, to the latest in politics, and the biggest sporting moments – the iconic NRL Gladiators photo was captured by Sun-Herald photographer John O’Gready – The Sun-Herald has been there for it all since its debut in 1953.
Marking the occasion will be an eight-page souvenir wrap-around, as well as an essay from Peter FitzSimons, columnists Jacqueline Maley and Jamila Rizvi sharing their perfect Sundays, and a Sunday roast recipe from Adam Liaw.
Ahead of the celebrations, Mediaweek caught up with The Sun-Herald editor Melissa Stevens, to take a look back at what has been and what lies ahead.
With 70 years of history to comb through, Stevens said that laying it all out reinforced just how many major moments in history that The Sun-Herald has brought its readers.
“We are the paper of record for election results. It was really fascinating to look back at all the different political leaders at both the federal and state levels, and the context of the issues that dominated in these different eras.
“Another thing that really stood out was sport. Sport is such a quintessential part of the Aussie weekend, and it was a really fun trip down memory lane to see how many big sporting events and wins were recorded in The Sun-Herald. There’s been Grand Finals and heaps of really big Olympic moments, then more recently, things like Ash Barty’s win”.
The 70th anniversary edition which was published on 8 October 2023
Even though she only took the reins of The Sun-Herald in February 2022, Stevens’ own tenure has seen a federal election a state election, and the coronation of King Charles III.
“It was my third week in the job that Shane Warne died,” Stevens said. “I wouldn’t say it was a baptism of fire, because it was a fantastic experience to work on such an important edition, but I was very aware we were recording a major moment for Australians. Certainly, for my third week in, I barely had my feet under the desk!”
When asked how, exactly, the team approached marking the 70th anniversary, Stevens replied “with a great sense of responsibility.”
“The main thing we wanted to acknowledge was 70 years of recording history, from a global scale right down to the local level, and to also have a sense of celebration about the very unique content mix that is part of a Sunday newspaper. It’s a very distinct mix of news, lifestyle, and columnists as well as our prestige inserts such as Sunday Life magazine and our Traveller section. For all of us, we really wanted to be sure that the tribute represents all those aspects.”
Having recorded 16% growth year on year in readership, and with the most recent Roy Morgan figures showing that The Sun-Herald is in what Stevens calls “a very strong state,” Sunday papers will not be going anywhere any time soon.
First edition of the Sun-Herald on 11 October 1953
“With Sunday newspapers, it is a very different experience to the rest of the week – people often talk about the Sunday newspaper being the ‘leanback read’,” said Stevens.
“Everyone’s really time-poor now, and there’s nothing more tangible than a physical newspaper that gives you that permission to stop and take some time out. The Sunday papers still very much play that role.”
Celebrating 70 years under its belt, Stevens said that the future focus of The Sun-Herald will be its subscribers – no matter where the next 70 years may lead.
“For us, it’s really very much about continuing to provide that unique Sunday content mix and be that smart Sunday read for our subscribers, both in print and digitally. That’s really our focus, our subscribers.”
–
Top Image: Melissa Stevens