Melbourne Press Club celebrates Media Legends at the State Library

Melbourne Press Club and State Library Victoria today unveiled Media Legends: The Media Hall of Fame, the inaugural exhibition celebrating the Australian Media Hall of Fame. 

The free exhibition is presented by State Library Victoria in partnership with the Melbourne Press Club and housed within the State Library newspaper reading room. It recognises people who have made significant contributions to the craft of journalism and enhanced the history of the news media in Australia.

From today the State Library becomes the first home to the Australian Media Hall of Fame which was founded in 2011 by the Melbourne Press Club and comprises more than 80 reporters, editors, broadcasters, photographers, cartoonists, illustrators and commentators.

The inaugural exhibition focuses on Australian war correspondents who fearlessly reported from the frontlines of conflicts throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. The exhibition profiles Harry Gordon; Damien Parer; Wilfred Burchett; Alan Moorehead; Phillip Schuler and William Lambie - six journalists and broadcasters who covered colonial conflicts, World War I, World War II, Korea and Vietnam. 

The exhibition also highlights the role of women in media, sports journalists, cartoonists and photographers. 

Melbourne Press Club President Michael Rowland said the Media Legends exhibition would celebrate the contributions of Australian journalists who made their mark on history. 

“We are thrilled to see the Media Hall of Fame now having its own permanent exhibition honouring the legacy of great Australian journalists and their impact on Australian society,” he said. 

“This year’s exhibition in particular highlights the courage and sacrifice made by Australian war correspondents who literally risked their lives for a story, and reminds us of the importance of having a strong, independent media into the future,” he said. 

State Library Chief Executive Officer Kate Torney said the partnership with Melbourne Press Club is one that recognises a long history of excellence in Australian journalism and the important role the Library plays in collecting that history. 

“The State Library is delighted to partner with Melbourne Press Club to see this exhibition become reality. As an institution that has been collecting Australian journalism for almost 160 years, the Library is the ideal home for this exhibition. Fittingly it is displayed in our newspaper room which contains so much of our outstanding journalistic heritage,” she said. 

Media Legends: The Media Hall of Fame opens today and is free.