People interested in the history of newspaper publishing in Bathurst are invited to attend a public lecture at Charles Sturt University (CSU) at 6pm on Wednesday 2 April. Ms Margaret Van Heekeren, an associate lecturer in journalism at the CSU School of Communication, will present Crossing the Great Divide - the 160th Anniversary of Newspaper Publishing in Bathurst, the story of the first 18 months of newspaper publishing in inland Australia. “In late 1847, newspaper editor and printer Benjamin Isaacs transported the first printing press over the Blue Mountains, and on 5 February 1848 the first newspaper was published in Bathurst,” Ms Van Heekeren said. “This was a turbulent time of transition for Bathurst, as the colonial community began to transform from a frontier outpost into a formalised settlement and trading centre. It laid the foundation for 160 years of continuous newspaper publishing in Australia’s oldest inland settlement.”