Whether you live in a smaller community of a few hundred people or a busy metropolis of millions, newspapers have not only brought you the news and sports, but also been the conduit to the community.

And for the past 160 years, the Ararat Advertiser has been the voice of Ararat, a community with an urban population according of 8297 and servicing a region of 11,752, according to 2016 census data.

We have told the stories – both good and bad. We have campaigned for change. We have been your voice when no-one else would listen. We have informed you about disasters, about growth and development, about how your sporting team fared at the weekend and who in the community has given birth, tied the knot or passed away.

In the past 160 years, some of these stories have made you laugh, brought you to tears, shocked you and educated you.

But all these stories have one thing in common … they have been about the Ararat community, for the Ararat community.

Published by Fairfax Media, the Ararat Advertiser is one of the oldest continuously operating newspapers in Victoria, second in age only to the Geelong Advertiser.

The newspaper was founded by UK printers and stationers, Jabez Walter Banfield and James Gearing, who emigrated to Australia in the 1850s gold rush. Banfield and Gearing emigrated to Australia on October 10, 1852.

They initially followed the Victorian gold rush to Melbourne, where they went into partnership with Edward Holt Nuthall, a printer from India.

In May 1855 the trio returned to the central goldfields to invest in a printing plant in Maryborough.

Between 1855 and 1864 Banfield and Gearing were associated with newspaper or printing offices in 13 towns.

First published on August 1, 1857 as a free single sheet newspaper under the name Mount Ararat Advertiser, the paper was distributed throughout the Mount Ararat gold diggings.

Six months after the death of Nuthall, Banfield bought the newspaper business for £1012 10s when it was auctioned on March 20, 1861.

Banfield died in 1899 and the newspaper remained in the family's control until sold to a new company controlled by The Courier in Ballarat in early 1962.

It was known as the Ararat and Pleasant Creek Advertiser between 1861 and 1885 then finally rebranded as Ararat Advertiser in 1885.

Some of the most important and engaging stories The Ararat Advertiser has covered in the past 160 years has been the tragic January 2006 bushfires in the Grampians National Park, which resulted in two people’s deaths, as well as the derailing of a V/Line passenger train at Trawalla on April 28, 2006, which killed two people.

Over the next month of our milestone birthday celebrations, the Ararat Advertiser will reflect on many of the important stories in the region over the last 160 years, both pictorially and in words.

But over the last 160 years, The Ararat Advertiser has one great strength … community.

And the Addy’s strength and uniqueness will continue well into the exciting and ever-evolving digital future. 

And we are asking you, our readers, to come along with the Addy for the ride of your life. You can not only tell us about what’s happening around Ararat, you can also help us generate content that can not only be seen in print, but also on our website, on your tablet or mobile phone.  

And the involvement of the Ararat community in our story-telling goes further than just letters to the editor. User generated digital content - comments, articles, videos and photos from members of the community are also important to us. 

This involvement means the Addy’s audience – you, the readers – feel an “ownership” of our masthead.

We never forget we are part of a bigger picture, part of the Ararat community.

And that will never change when it comes to delivering the news for readers who want that news now, live, as soon as it happens.

While the digital era has changed the way we will tell the stories, the Ararat Advertiser will continue to tell these stories into the future.

This means the Addy’s story-tellers – our news and sports journalists – are required to possess multimedia skills like audio and video making, formulating informative graphs for print and online, sharing stories on our social media pages so all members of the community, no matter what age, can be informed.

Newspapers are now able to reach a bigger audience and to adapt storytelling to the context, thanks to a wider range of multimedia tools.

We are proud of our past and are very much looking forward to an exciting future with you, our Ararat Advertiser readers.

Kim Quinlan

Editor

The Ararat Advertiser