IT was a proud week for the Newcastle Herald.
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On Thursday, a new exhibition opened at Old Parliament House in Canberra, which is now home to the Museum of Australian Democracy.
The exhibition is titled Truth, Power and a Free Press and it explores the importance of the media and its role in Australian democracy. It's very much an exhibition whose time is now.
The Your Right to Know campaign, supported by the Herald and its publisher Australian Community Media, was launched last month in response to police raids on journalists and the growing resistance of governments to release information which should be available to all of us.
But the exhibition means more to us here at the Herald than just the issues and ideas it raises. It's dear to us because the Herald, and in particular our award-winning journalist Joanne McCarthy, features prominently.
Joanne is among 12 of Australia's leading journalists sharing the story behind their stories as part of the exhibition. She features in a seven-foot tall video display talking about her work and why it matters. There's a Herald front page on display, headlined 'They Knew', from the Shine the Light campaign. Joanne has also lent the exhibition a hand-written letter, signed only "Norman", which she received in 2007. It's a letter telling her about a school friend who had been abused in the 1950s.
I travelled down to Canberra for the opening, with Joanne and Chad Watson, who was editor of the Herald when it launched its Shine the Light campaign which led to the royal commission into child sexual abuse.
Together, Joanne, Chad and the Herald changed the nation through that campaign. That's one example of why the media matters to democracy in this country. And that's one example why I'm immensely proud to work for the Newcastle Herald.
It's a great exhibition in a beautiful building. I encourage anyone to pay it a visit if you happen to be spending anytime in the capital.