Illawarra Mercury

The Illawarra Mercury was established by Thomas Garrett and W. F. Cahill in 1855. The first issue was printed as 8 large folio pages and was circulated on 8 October 1855. Initially the newspaper was published once a week then increased to twice weekly in 1929. During the 1930s the depression had a significant effect on the region and forced the newspaper to revert to a weekly publication. It wasn’t until 1950 that the newspaper increased its publication to a daily paper; this led to the newspaper changing its name to the Illawarra Daily Mercury, which lasted until 1954. The paper also later merged with the South Coast Times in 1968. In 1981 the Illawarra Mercury acquired a new offset press that allowed the newspaper to be brought to life in full colour. As technology emerged an order was placed in 1988 for a new electronic colour scanner which would enhance the newspaper's production and appearance. It was the first newspaper in Australia to use the state-of-the-art Itek 210S scanner. In 2012 Fairfax relocated the editorial production, involving subeditors and page layout, of Illawarra Mercury to New Zealand. == Proprietors ==

• Thomas Garrett • John Curr • Archibald Campbell • Joseph Hart • Margaret Campbell • Edward Allen • Standish Musgrave • Wilfrid Musgrave • R Henderson • John Fairfax Ltd • Ron Steward • Corinne Whiteman == Readership ==

Despite being marketed towards residents of the Illawarra and surrounding regions, it can be purchased throughout the Sydney metropolitan region where it is popular due to the high quality of its horse-racing and sport coverage. == Awards ==

In 2005 The Mercury was named Newspaper of the year 20,000-50,000 circ. by the Pacific Area Newspaper Publisher's association PANPA. In 2004 the Illawarra Mercury won the Walkley Award for Investigative Journalism and the Pacific Area Newspapers Publishers’ Association Marketing prize. The Illawarra Mercury in 1972 won two of the State’s leading newspaper awards – a W. A. Richard award for technical excellence in newspaper production and a "certificate of merit in journalism". == Archives ==

The newspaper is available on microfilm at Wollongong City Library and the State Library of New South Wales. It has been digitised by the National Library of Australia under its Newspaper Digitisation Program. == Digitisation ==

The issues of this paper from 1856 to 1954 have been digitised as part of the Australian Newspapers Digitisation Program project of the National Library of Australia. ==Endorsements==