The Guelph Civic Museum is set to display two newspaper themed exhibitions this week.
The first, ‘B&W And Read All Over’ looks at the history of the Guelph Mercury which ran from 1854 to 2016 before closing down. The exhibition will examine the paper’s history by evaluating the impact it had on the citizens of Guelph and then the impact it's demise had on the city.
The second exhibition, The Dailies, looks at what makes a news headline worthy by examining the form of headline news and the use of photographs to make a powerful impact.
“When Guelph lost the Guelph Mercury - which had been the cornerstone of journalism in our community since 1854 - it was a significant loss for the community in terms of losing its paper,” said Guelph Civic Museum manager Tammy Adkin.
Adkin says the exhibition aims to show the evolution of journalism in this city and examine what that means in for people looking for news.
The newspaper collection in the exhibition is from the museum's own collection along with some pieces given to them by private collections.
A sneak peek of the exhibition will take place at the Guelph Civic Museum on May 31 with opening remarks scheduled for 6:30 p.m. The official exhibition will open on June 1.
“I think we want to explore the importance of having many points of information in order to make informed decisions about life, politics and certainly we're seeing a seismic shift in how people receive information,” said Adkin.
“We’re seeing an underscoring of the importance of good journalism and I guess the question we ask is, ‘what is the future of journalism?’”
In an attempt to answer that question, a panel discussion to support the exhibition will take place on June 26 at the Guelph Civic Museum with former Guelph Mercury managing editor Phil Andrew moderating a panel that includes former reporter Rob O’Flanagan, photojournalist Mathew McCarthy and Andre Probst amongst others at 7 p.m.
EDITOR'S NOTE: a previous version of this story stated the exhibits are free. In fact, the opening reception was a free event but there is a general admission free to visit the museum and the exhibitions.
