The Daily Telegraph‘s 140th birthday celebrations are taking place over the next two weeks, starting from Monday, 1 July:
The Daily Telegraph’s two-week long celebration of its 140th anniversary starts with an 8-page wrap of the newspaper – featuring the front cover about the death of Ned Kelly. There is a special sports section featuring The Ashes, and a Sydney Confidential section by Fiona Wingett, assistant editor.
For the next two weeks, each day there will be a decade double-page spread in the newspaper, leading up to 2019.
There will be stories covering events such as Ned Kelly’s hanging, Eiffel Tower opening, The Ashes, the opening of David Jones stores, health crises, economic issues, shipping news, Royal news, society news and major sporting events.
Readers got a preview of the 140th celebrations on Saturday when there was a double-page spread in The Daily Telegraph Saturday Extra lift-out, featuring the Mystery Man Behind The Daily Telegraph John Mooyart Lynch who ran the very first edition 140 years ago today on July 1, 1879. The piece featured various facts and figures about Sydney life and how the paper was produced.
Ben English, editor of The Daily Telegraph, will tell readers about his favourite front pages over the years and the importance of The Daily Telegraph in Australia’s biggest city.
English said: “In today’s eight-page wrap and throughout the week, The Daily Telegraph will revisit many of the momentous occasions that have occurred on our watch. These won’t be simple reprints. The will be written in the present tense, to better indicate through a modern perspective the historical nature of those events.”
Over the two week celebration there will also be:
• Special video interviews from various journalists and columnists including Mark Morri, Sharri Markson and Buzz Rothfield.
• Special 140th anniversary stories on the history pages of The Daily Telegraph.
• Editorials and op-eds written by former editors of The Daily Telegraph, columnists and a number of special contributors.