By Jed Lanyon
The 40th anniversary edition of the Mountain Views Mail would be incomplete if it didn’t feature former journalist and photographer Kath Gannaway, who worked for the Mountain Views for about 30 of the newspaper’s 40 years.
Kath started in 1985 under editor and owner Mardie Lambert after moving on from a new business opportunity in Badger Creek.
“It wasn’t something that I had planned on. We bought a little kiosk in Badger Creek that didn’t work out so I needed a job because my kids were still at school,” she told the Mail.
“I didn’t know whether I could do it or not but I thought I’d give it a go because I needed a job. And it just sort of grew from there.”
Kath said she loved the office environment in her earlier years where the workforce was made up of a tight group of young mums who juggled family commitments and afterschool-care all while creating a weekly newspaper.
“We really were like a family. We had a lot of fun in those days,” she said.
“We were all the same age and had children who were at school. It was almost like we were the babysitting club as well.
“Mardie’s whole philosophy was that the community was what’s important.”
Kath said some of her best memories on the job were meeting famous politicians like Prime Minister Bob Hawke.
“Practically all the prime ministers who were in at some stage you’d get to meet,” she said.
“Bob Hawke was probably the main one. Everyone loved Bob Hawke.
“I was really excited about that because my dad was a great union man, so meeting him was great.
“But the people who really stick in your mind are the local people who just do amazing things or are just so honest and interesting and really contribute to the community.”
Kath said a few of those who left a lasting impression were community workers such as Warburton’s Ted Chisholm and Healesville’s Kevin Mason; Jeannie Blackburn, who spoke bravely of her ordeal with domestic violence; author Mick Woiwood; and Pam Krstic, Angela Boede and Ian Lawther, who were crusaders against institutional sex abuse in Healesville.
Following the 2009 bushfires there were people like Glen Fiske, Dorothy Barber, Lyn Mullens, Malcolm Calder and Ray Mahoney, who Kath said were so gracious in sharing their stories.
Kath said she was proud of her work covering the road toll, the 2009 bushfires and the role that the Mail played in highlighting institutional sexual abuse.
“We were quite dogged about following those incidents that happened in Healesville when no one wanted to talk about it,” she said.
“It seems like it was a very small part, but for the people who were here…It really gave them a sense that what they were doing was right in pushing it forward.”
Kath had two stints with the Mountain Views, from 1985 to 1994 and from 1998 to her retirement last year.
The industry changed quite a lot over that era and Kath recalled the days where stories were written on portable typewriters and then set into the galleys, while all photos had to be scanned into print before being taken to Shepparton to be mass-produced.
“With the photos, they were all in black and white when I started and we used film cameras,” she said.
She said that they never knew how photos would turn out until they were developed by the photographer later in the week.
“And you couldn’t really take a lot of photos like today where you can hold your finger down on a button and then just pick the best one because the film cost us money,” Kath said.
“It was such a thrill to stand there and see the photos coming up out of the chemicals.
“The photography has been the part that I loved the most.
“I was amazed at the world that photography opens up to you.
“But in terms of the actual reporting, I don’t think that the reporting has changed in the aim to report on community news right across the board.”
Despite all the changes, she said, “it’s great that it is still called the Mountain Views Mail”.
“To me, that is a tribute to the people who first helped to set it up,” she said.
