In Print

For centuries the printing industry relied on a range of traditional crafts, most of which are now rare. Stereotyping, electrotyping, dot-etching and engraving, hand-binding, hand-composing, Linotype and Monotype operations have all but disappeared.

‘New Building Described’, The Argus, 9 September 1926
Reproduced courtesy National Library of Australia

Progress

In the Factory
In the Office
In the Home
On the Water
-In Print
On the Land
On the Street
On the Tracks
On the Road
In the Shadows
Odd Jobs

The Age Reporter's Room, Collins Street, Melbourne, by unknown photographer, c. 1900
Reproduced courtesy The Age

By 1900, newspapers were at the height of their power and influence. They were inexpensive and ubiquitous: the average Australian read several newspapers per day. With the advent of radio and later television, newspaper circulation began a gradual but steady decline. Today, the publishing industry has turned its energy to online and electronic media and newspapers continue to shed printers and journalists.

Automation has transformed the factory floor: more print is produced in less time, at lower cost and with far fewer workers. Even those who write for print are endangered. The slow decline of newspapers is well-documented, as advertisers and readers move to digital platforms. Technology has dramatically affected the way newspapers are managed, financed, staffed and, indeed, read. As advertising revenue diverted to online, entire departments disappeared or were reduced to skeleton staff. Printing moved off-site with minimal labour required. Today’s newsroom looks very different. The Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (the journalists’ union) estimates that up to 5,000 Australian journalists have left the industry since 2010.

Progress

Author: Ann Wilcox

Next Topic: On the Land

Further Reading:

The Old Treasury Building acknowledges that it stands on the unceded land of the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung people of the Kulin Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present.