PUBLISHING a review of a talk about the history of the Hampshire Chronicle is undoubtedly journalism feasting on itself.

Especially when the writer is a former reporter.

But Barry Shurlock's account achieved a rare thing.

Firstly, he made the subject matter easily accessible for his audience, who happily sipped wine and “oohed” and “ahhed” at his revelations.

And, secondly, he was pinpoint accurate, when many attempts at portraying the industry still all-but stoop to us sporting a mac and pork pie hat.

The Chronicle may well end up lining your kitty litter tray but it’s actually not only one of the oldest newspapers in the country, it truly has also survived against the odds.

Barry's talk The Hampshire Chronicle - 250 years of News, was given to the Friends of Winchester Cathedral in the Paul Woodhouse Suite at the cathedral last Tursday.

It heard that in the early years, it was shuffled between owners and relentlessly haemorrhaged money.

Somehow it survived, defiantly refusing to capitulate to governments bent on shutting it down.

Barry delivered the 251-year history pithily and at a canter.

I don't know about you, but I find that talks which self-indulgently, verbally wallow leave me in need of a stiff gin.

Well, his was the reverse.

There were some real gems, such as the paper breaking the world exclusive of the engagement of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert - the sort of royal scoop that makes national news editors salivate liberally all over their keyboard.

He told how the paper has seen it all, from the Battle or Trafalgar to the death of Napoleon, the Crimean War and the assassination of America’s President Lincoln.

READ MORE: Cricket history buried in rogue Hampshire Chronicle

Apparently there wasn’t one Winchester College riot, but many, which must have demanded veritable acres of excitable coverage.

As an aside, if you ever have an hour on your hands, it really is worth going to the library and scrolling through some early copies.

Novelist Thomas Hardy was right, wives really were sold at market and the account of the sinking of the Titanic is a writing masterpiece.

But what Barry brought out brilliantly is how journalism isn’t a nine to five job, it’s your life and often an enduring passion.

James Linden, the Southampton printer and schoolmaster who launched The Hampshire Chronicle on a hot summer’s day in 1772, battled on for six years before plunging into bankruptcy.

Another editor - or rather editrix – to feature was Monica Woodhouse, who slickly ran the newsroom for more than 50 years last century.

Among the first females to head up a British publication, she was relentless.

Barry played footage of her being interviewed about her role.

Neatly dodging a didactic, sexist question, she chuckled about how being in charge meant she could be thrown in jail should the paper not comply with a judge’s reporting restriction.

Barry said Monica wanted the Chronicle to do what it said on the masthead – to “chronicle” the lives of Hampshire residents.

This is a role the paper still takes seriously today.

Here’s hoping it’s still around the next time Winchester College riots, though a future flash-point is more likely to be access to social media rather than access to beer, and they probably won't threaten the head with axes.

But you never know.