It is the second oldest provincial newspaper still existing in Australia after the Geelong Advertiser (1840).

The Rev. John West, The Examiner's first editorial writer, had been a principal mover in bringing the newspaper into existence.

The Examiner was first called The Launceston Examiner and Commercial and Agricultural Advertiser and the early issues were produced by a staff of 12 in the form of a small tabloid, published each Saturday afternoon.

Six months after it was founded it was published on Wednesdays as well and in 1868 it was produced as a full broadsheet.

In 1853, The Examiner became a tri-weekly - Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays and finally a morning daily on December 21, 1877.

It returned to the tabloid format in January, 1948, said at the time to be because of newsprint rationing imposed by the Federal Government.

At first, The Examiner was printed at a book shop in Brisbane St, but in 1848 it moved to Charles St and in 1854 to the specially built Paterson St premises, which, enlarged and modernised, is still its home.

The Saturday Evening Express was founded in 1942 and was published until 1984, when it was replaced by The Sunday Examiner.