An ageing agnostic introduced me to Eureka Street in Rockhampton in the mid-1990s. Joan Brady had led an interesting life: frontierswoman in Central Queensland, mother of ten, consumer advocate, financial counsellor and political activist and an early recipient of a heart transplant.
Her caustic language bewildered and alienated many, yet her passion for social justice, indigenous equality and empowerment of the little person was legendary. Thrusting this weighty publication into my palms, she remarked that it was ‘time for me to really get educated’.
Her recommendation did not disappoint; for the next decade I was an occasional reader of Eureka Street, consuming it in doctors’ surgeries and public libraries, and sharing it with subscriber friends. Sadly, like many others, I never proffered my own cash for the education.
As a communications specialist, I admired the quality of the articles in the magazine and dreamt of seeing my name one day in its print. I envisaged my first article as some prominent commentary on Australian culture lending itself to extensive original thought and acclaim as an important piece of intelligent discourse.
Instead, I find my contribution somewhat less lofty as I try to ease you down gently about the demise of the print edition, while bravely highlighting the numerous advantages of the publication’s move to online. We all have our life’s expectations unmet on occasion!
As chief executive officer of Jesuit Communications Australia, the owner of the Eureka Street masthead on behalf of the Australian Jesuits, I am in the unenviable position of overseeing the ending of this print era. It is not easy. Many of you have taken the opportunity in recent months to let me know the central role the magazine has played in shaping your reading habits and even your lifestyle choices. The pleasure of reflective reading—in bed, on a train or in the garden—being replaced by devotion to a computer screen has proved, and will prove, too much for some of you.
For all those who have built an ‘institution’ around the print format of the magazine, I apologise for the decision to remove it. Whether it be the closure of transport or other public services, the demise of a sporting club, the rationalisation of churches or the loss of faith in political parties, it is difficult to see positives in the crumbling of ‘our’ institutions.
But it is my hope that this sense of loss will lead to Eureka Street’s great gain. It is