The celebration of the 150th year since Harvey Roulston first published the Journal is not just a celebration of the newspaper’s long and proud history but also a celebration of the region and the community it has served over that 150 years.
The Journal has served a region that was once a vital gateway to Gippsland, a strong market town and once established as a satellite city to Melbourne. Melbourne’s second city.
Today this region has transitioned into a bustling multi-cultural region.
Dandenong itself has had a significant transition and is now ready for its next stage of importance to this region.
For a newspaper to reach 150 years in Melbourne is a significant milestone given our city’s relatively short history and the Journal has played a vital role in the local community as its voice and its main communication tool for so many decades.
Our family company, Star News Group, has its own prod history spanning 106 years in the south east of Melbourne.
So when we were offered the opportunity to purchase the Journal only two years ago we saw it as a perfect fit.
The Journal has had a number of owners over the years and for many years one of those owners, Greg Dickson, worked closely with my grandfather because they had neighbouring newspapers.
As the region grew and as newspapers became swallowed up by the bigger companies, so did the Journal when it was purchased by Rupert Murdoch.
Syme and Fairfax, via the Age, then owned the Journal for many years.
There are also many staff who have worked at the Journal and many stories about those staff over those years.
Of course, the longest serving was Marg Stork whose amazing career at the Journal began in 1939 when she was 15 years old and continued until her death just last year.
Thank you to our readers and advertisers for your support and we trust you will continue to support the Journal for many years ahead.
– Paul Thomas, Managing Director, Star News Group
