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DON Bentley was beginning to feel he had been in newspapers too long. Increasingly he was coming across journalists who reminded him of individuals of old and this troubled him because one face seemed to merge with another. It was as though all the journalists were being recycled and coming round again, 30 or 40 years on. It was scary and some nights Bentley would have to take himself out of the messroom at the Chronicle and wander over to Mahoney’s, alone, for a stiff … [Read more...] about Faces from the past

The clock struck midnight and Bentley looked towards the door of the Hope and Anchor on Hobart’s Macquarie Street. Midnight – or thereabouts – on a Saturday always brought a magical moment, with Bentley sat in front of a roaring log fire, a cold beer in hand, looking towards the door, waiting for the first edition of the Chronicle to arrive. How many times, in how many pubs, had Bentley sat with a cold pint anticipating that first edition, still warm and paper-thin crisp and … [Read more...] about Waiting for the paper

Don Bentley was sipping a new beer he had discovered, and thinking of newspapers as he always did. Beer and newspapers went together, Bentley was thinking, as neatly as hops and water, ink and newsprint, pen and paper. The more of the Greengrass Old Rogue ale that Bentley drank, the more the connection became clearer. Real ale and real newspapers. A newspaper, Bentley would eventually tell his wife, when she surveyed three or four empty bottles by the side of his chair, was … [Read more...] about Real ale and real newspapers

Revolution was in the air as the sub-editors of The Chronicle gathered during their evening break in the mess room at the back of the newsroom. The revolution was inspired not by the workers this time, but by the government which was intent on reining in union power in the workplace, introducing legislation to make it easier for employees to enter into personal contracts and bypass union wage awards. Don Bentley had heard all the arguments for and against union membership … [Read more...] about One for the slate