The newsroom has changed significantly in recent years and while The Examiner has been around since 1842, the internet and social media has opened up a whole new world. Mainly, the 24-hour news cycle.

Gone are the days when yesterday's paper would become tomorrow's fish and chip wrapper.

Now, what we publish will stay forever on the internet ready to be discovered by a quick Google search or Facebook share. It also means we can keep track of the types of stories reaching the most amount of people.

And, looking back on some of The Examiner's top-rated stories for 2019 - a few trends stood out among the statistics.

Court and crime stories always resonate, but when the owner of the AAJ India and Hari's Curry restaurants appeared in the Launceston Magistrates Court in June to answer to 11 food handling complaints, the community was understandably shook. The description of its "decomposing and putrid" food clearly hit home for many.

Then there were the human interest stories. The stories that had people thinking 'this could have been me'. Like the Tasmanian family of four living in a freezing cold shipping container, who felt guilty for complaining about the situation they were facing.

Or 65-year-old Prospect woman Eleonore Wells who ticked the incorrect box on a Centrelink form almost a decade ago, and as a result is now facing $163,000 in debt.

It was clear Ms Wells was not alone in her woes, because when a Senate Inquiry into the rate of Newstart and the Centrelink compliance came to Launceston, the confronting evidence made for The Examiner's fourth most popular story of 2019.

These stories tell us a lot about the real issue facing Northern Tasmanians.

How they are received show that you care for the disadvantaged in our community - we do too. It's been another big year for The Examiner and 2020 is shaping up to be even bigger yet. We hope you'll join us for the ride.