Free 56-page souvenir in this week's issue.

The company that produces The Local Paper this week celebrates the 50-year anniversary of its heritage.

Local Media Pty Ltd traces its origins to September 1969 with the launch of the Sunday Observer newspaper. Local Media Pty Ltd has published the Melbourne Observer since September 2002.

Local Media Publisher Ash Long started as a newsboy at the Observer in 1969, so also celebrates his personal 50-year anniversary in the media.

The Observer was launched by transport magnate Gordon Barton (1969-71), followed by the proprietorship of Maxwell Newton (1971-77), then the ownership of Peter Isaacson (1977-89). There was a hiatus in publication from 1989-2002, when Long resurrected the title as a midweek publication.

Local Media Pty Ltd first went online with www.LocalPaper.com.au in 1999, 20 years ago. The Local Paper title was first used in 1985, and in local circulation in the Murrindindi region after the 2009 bushfires as part of The Phoenix project.

Weekly print and online publication of The Local Paper started on February 17, 2016. It was the Murrindindi region’s first professional online media platform. All copies of The Local Paper since 2016 are available at the www.LocalPaper.com.au website. The Local Paper is the largest weekly newspaper in the north-east.

This week’s souvenir publication traces the origin of the Observer in 1969. Free copies of the 56-page souvenir are inside the September 18 issue of The Local Paper and Melbourne Observer. The souvenir is also available free online.