The Newark Advertiser has celebrated its 150th anniversary with a gala dinner for more than 300 guests. They included staff, former employees, civic leaders, figures from the newspaper industry, and special guests, including the Vice Lord Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire, Jenny Farr, and the Bishop of Southwell, the Right Rev George Cassidy.
A toast to the health and wellbeing of the Advertiser was proposed by the president of the Newspaper Society, John Robertson.
He said: “The Advertiser is a shining example of maintaining its values and staying loyal to the principles, which over the past 150 years has made it one of the country’s leading weekly newspapers.
“Undoubtedly, the main reason for this is its independence, both in ownership and editorial comment.”
The Advertiser’s editor-in-chief and managing director, Roger Parlby, said many newspapers were founded in 1854 because of the removal of stamp duty.
Assistant managing director Joanna Parlby made a surprise presentation to her father to mark his 63 years with the newspaper.
He was given a first edition of the Charles Dickens novel Hard Times, which was published in 1854.
The principal speaker was broadcaster Kate Adie. She said: “The job of the local paper is finding out what makes life tick and what holds a community together. It is about collective memories and about what makes life worth living.”
Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog
