Australians are being encouraged to band together in new and creative ways to commemorate ANZAC Day and keep the ANZAC spirit alive this weekend.
With all public commemoration gatherings banned – including marches and dawn services – in a bid to slow the spread of COVID-19, News Corp Australia has developed a suite of publishing initiatives to help the nation ‘Light Up the Dawn’ remotely on Saturday.
The print and digital initiatives – which include a virtual candle, audio recordings, an Australian flag poster and a poppies poster featuring The Ode – are available free to readers through News Corp Australia’s newspapers, apps, desktop and mobile sites.
Participating news brands include The Daily Telegraph, Herald Sun, The Advertiser and The Courier-Mail as well as Cairns Post, Gold Coast Bulletin, Townsville Bulletin, The Mercury, NT News and Geelong Advertiser.
The ‘Light Up the Dawn’ campaign, spearheaded by RSL organisations across the country, has been championed by media outlets nationwide.
The News Corp initiatives are designed to help the community commemorate our war heroes and honour the sacrifice of Australia’s soldiers despite social isolation restrictions.
News Corp Australia’s ANZAC editor Justin Lees said the company had partnered with Grainger Films to develop ‘Light up the Dawn’ content which would be accessible free as an add-on feature within each news brand’s app, desktop and mobile site.
The ‘Light Up the Dawn’ digital content will feature a virtual candle, a reading of The Ode and a recording of The Last Post, which can be used as part of driveway dawn services or in moments of quiet personal reflection across the weekend.
In addition, each newspaper will today publish a full-page poster featuring a giant red poppy and The Ode with the words Lest We Forget, with families encouraged to place it in their windows, balconies or on front fences on ANZAC Day.
A giant Australian flag poster was published last Sunday across the country as another way for Aussies to demonstrate their national pride and create a sense of togetherness.
“We can still gather from a safe distance as a community,” Mr Lees said.
“One of the things we are encouraging, supporting the RSL’s campaign, is for readers to ‘Light Up the Dawn’ on Anzac Day.
“Instead of attending a dawn service we are encouraging people to gather at the end of their driveway, in their front garden, on their balcony or at their window. They can listen to a streamed service from the Australian War Memorial at the same time and they can hold a candle or use the virtual candle and other content available in our apps to honour our fallen soldiers.”
