New mural showcasing the changing face of local news in the Highlands
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
A new mural in the main office of Highland News and Media illustrates how news reporting has changed over the decades.
The publisher of the Inverness Courier moved to a new base in Church Street this summer and, keen to put down a marker that this is its new permanent home, in the heart of the city centre, local graffiti artist Marc Delaye was engaged to produce a new contemporary mural as part of the office decor.
Acknowledging the company's proud past as well as its dynamic future the mural includes a depiction of the Courier's former Bank Street home and is book-ended with portraits of Eveline Barron – who, along with her uncle, Dr Evan Barron, held sway over the content of the Inverness Courier for 70 years until 1988 – and Iona MacDonald, Highland News and Media's (HNM) youngest reporter who, aged 17, is already producing important in-depth stories for both print editions and online.
The mural also incorporates other elements illustrating how HNM has a presence across most of the Highlands – with the Cairngorm funicular, Stac Pollaidh and the John O'Groats Signpost giving a nod towards the territories of sister Inverness Courier titles the Strathspey and Badenoch Herald, Ross-shire Journal, Caithness Courier and John O'Groat Journal.
Of finding herself immortalised in paint Iona said: "When I was first told about the idea I have to admit that I thought it was a joke – being part of a mural is quite surreal and not career goal I had expected to achieve!
"But the mural is just one of many opportunities given to me by Highland News and Media that I never expected to have so early in my career and I’m so grateful for all of them.
"The thoughts and opinions of young women are often underestimated and dismissed, and so it makes me proud to work somewhere that is not only amplifying the voices of young women in print and online but has even gone the extra mile with this mural, looking to the future and also being proud of its past where the legendary Eveline Barron was such a huge figure.
"I hope that I can live up to the honour."
HNM managing director Steve Barron said: "The main aim was for the mural to demonstrate our journey from traditional newspaper publisher to a digital first of-our-time news business.
"The image of legendary long-term proprietor and editor of the Inverness Courier Eveline Barron, juxtaposed with our youngest and very talented trainee journalist Iona MacDonald really captures that.
"Eveline and Iona may be of different times but they definitely share the same journalistic values and passion for local news."
Artist Marc Delaye has carried out a huge range of commissioned work through freshpaint.org including for the Mikeysline Hive in Academy Street, Inverness as well as the city's Victorian Market and Millburn Academy along with numerous pieces for private homes and gardens.
He admitted the latest work was challenging, but in a good way.
"There were a lot of design elements – much more than usual I would say," he said. "The portraits at either end took a lot of time to get right in terms of the proportions and so on but it was very satisfying to do, and very effective in the end, the older lady contrasting with the young reporter and all those elements in between."
