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In December 2015 the Melbourne Press Club and State Library Victoria unveiled the inaugural exhibition celebrating the Australian Media Hall of Fame, Media Legends.
The exhibition focused on Australian war correspondents who fearlessly reported from the frontlines of conflicts throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. It profiled 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.
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.
The exhibition was launched by Library Board of Victoria President John Wylie and State Library Chief Executive Officer Kate Torney at a reception on 2 December 2015.
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.
The exhibition was located in the State Library newspaper reading room until the re-design of the reading room in 2017.
Launched 2 December 2015
State Library Victoria