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| What does it take to start a community newspaper? Passionate, frustrated individuals and a gin distillery | What does it take to start a community newspaper? Passionate, frustrated individuals and a gin distillery |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| When the Glen Innes Examiner stopped circulating a print edition in the northern NSW town in September, a local volunteer newsroom formed to fill the gap | When the Glen Innes Examiner stopped circulating a print edition in the northern NSW town in September, a local volunteer newsroom formed to fill the gap |
| Four months after the launch of the Glen Innes News in the New England region of New South Wales, the president of the masthead’s voluntary committee, David Lewis, has some good news: it’s still in the black. The fortnightly newspaper achieved break-even within two weeks of the launch of its first print edition on 16 January, he says, and is still “paying its bills” via advertisers and donors. For a town that lost its previous print newspaper due to reduced revenue, that’s no mean feat. | Four months after the launch of the Glen Innes News in the New England region of New South Wales, the president of the masthead’s voluntary committee, David Lewis, has some good news: it’s still in the black. The fortnightly newspaper achieved break-even within two weeks of the launch of its first print edition on 16 January, he says, and is still “paying its bills” via advertisers and donors. For a town that lost its previous print newspaper due to reduced revenue, that’s no mean feat. |
| Written by unpaid community journalists, the publication has a guiding principle of transparency and is covering candidates ahead of the federal election. The fortnightly paper edition with a circulation of 1,500 is printed in nearby Guyra and distributed at outlets across the region. The website attracts 3,500 unique visitors monthly. | Written by unpaid community journalists, the publication has a guiding principle of transparency and is covering candidates ahead of the federal election. The fortnightly paper edition with a circulation of 1,500 is printed in nearby Guyra and distributed at outlets across the region. The website attracts 3,500 unique visitors monthly. |
| Only occasionally referring to himself as editor (“we’ve literally had too much to do” before adopting titles, he says), Lewis has been a self-confessed “community media tragic” for three decades. | Only occasionally referring to himself as editor (“we’ve literally had too much to do” before adopting titles, he says), Lewis has been a self-confessed “community media tragic” for three decades. |
| “I found a minuscule radio station out in the Brisbane burbs when I was 13, and called in the hopes that they might deign to let me scrub the toilets once a week so I could find out how things worked there,” he says. | |
| “They said: What time do you finish school? Come and do our drive shift.” | “They said: What time do you finish school? Come and do our drive shift.” |
| After moving to the Glen Innes region in 2017 and opening a family business, Lewis started volunteering for community radio station 2CBD FM. He quickly realised the Glen Innes Examiner (once a triweekly newspaper, published for 150 years, most recently by Australian Community Media) was, like many rural mastheads, struggling to cover local news. | After moving to the Glen Innes region in 2017 and opening a family business, Lewis started volunteering for community radio station 2CBD FM. He quickly realised the Glen Innes Examiner (once a triweekly newspaper, published for 150 years, most recently by Australian Community Media) was, like many rural mastheads, struggling to cover local news. |
| By 2024, Lewis says, “it was very light-on for local content, if it had any at all”, with no journalists based in a district with a population of 9,000. | |
| Sign up to receive Guardian Australia’s fortnightly Rural Network email newsletter | Sign up to receive Guardian Australia’s fortnightly Rural Network email newsletter |
| Sign up to receive Guardian Australia’s fortnightly Rural Network email newsletter | Sign up to receive Guardian Australia’s fortnightly Rural Network email newsletter |
| “Whether it was a month or a decade, there was going to come a time when the Examiner was no longer there,” Lewis says. “In my mind was the thought that, wouldn’t it be great – and certainly ideal – if a community-driven media organisation or media project was in place before that happened.” | |
| ACM announced in September that it would stop printing the Glen Innes Examiner and seven other regional papers, turning them into online-only mastheads. That was “ultimately the catalyst” for Lewis. | ACM announced in September that it would stop printing the Glen Innes Examiner and seven other regional papers, turning them into online-only mastheads. That was “ultimately the catalyst” for Lewis. |
| “I contacted people I’d spoken to just in conversation, even over a beer, about the idea, and said, ‘Well, if we’re going to do it, now’s the time, we can’t have nothing’,” he says. | “I contacted people I’d spoken to just in conversation, even over a beer, about the idea, and said, ‘Well, if we’re going to do it, now’s the time, we can’t have nothing’,” he says. |
| They founded the not-for-profit Tablelands Community Media Inc and called a public meeting, at which the idea of printing a newspaper was put to attendees. “It was a resounding yes,” Lewis says. | |
| Without a newsroom, the committee met at local pubs and cafes and, often, the Glen Gowrie gin distillery, which became an advertiser. They attracted voluntary writers including one retired journalist and took up membership with the Local and Independent News Association (Lina) for guidance about creating an editorial policy – a move that also makes them subject to Australian Press Council standards. | Without a newsroom, the committee met at local pubs and cafes and, often, the Glen Gowrie gin distillery, which became an advertiser. They attracted voluntary writers including one retired journalist and took up membership with the Local and Independent News Association (Lina) for guidance about creating an editorial policy – a move that also makes them subject to Australian Press Council standards. |
| Lewis stumped up most of the funds to establish a website. “Costs were minimal, a few hundred bucks,” he says. “We had some donations from local service clubs to help fund issue one of the print edition.” | Lewis stumped up most of the funds to establish a website. “Costs were minimal, a few hundred bucks,” he says. “We had some donations from local service clubs to help fund issue one of the print edition.” |
| Publishing a mix of general news and coverage of the local council, sports, crime, and events, Glen Innes News makes no secret of avoiding what Lewis calls “outrage stories” and “clickbait titles”. | Publishing a mix of general news and coverage of the local council, sports, crime, and events, Glen Innes News makes no secret of avoiding what Lewis calls “outrage stories” and “clickbait titles”. |
| “We love where we live,” he says. “We want it to succeed and we’re really excited to be people who enjoy the benefits of living in this region. We want other people to feel the same way”. | “We love where we live,” he says. “We want it to succeed and we’re really excited to be people who enjoy the benefits of living in this region. We want other people to feel the same way”. |
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| “If there’s a positive angle, yeah, we’ll highlight it if we can, but sometimes there isn’t, and that’s OK.” | “If there’s a positive angle, yeah, we’ll highlight it if we can, but sometimes there isn’t, and that’s OK.” |
| They’ve already courted their first minor controversy: committee vice-president, Glen Gowrie’s co-owner, David Scott, who had unsuccessfully run for the local shire council in 2024, was suddenly swept into office as a councillor upon the resignation of former mayor Rob Banham. It’s a potential conflict of interest, says Lewis, especially as the council is a major advertiser, but adds that the risk is being “managed and very heavily scrutinised”. | They’ve already courted their first minor controversy: committee vice-president, Glen Gowrie’s co-owner, David Scott, who had unsuccessfully run for the local shire council in 2024, was suddenly swept into office as a councillor upon the resignation of former mayor Rob Banham. It’s a potential conflict of interest, says Lewis, especially as the council is a major advertiser, but adds that the risk is being “managed and very heavily scrutinised”. |
| The executive director of Lina, Claire Stuchbery, says there has been a “promising reduction in the closure of newsrooms in Australia, and many new digital newsrooms emerging,” since 2022. | The executive director of Lina, Claire Stuchbery, says there has been a “promising reduction in the closure of newsrooms in Australia, and many new digital newsrooms emerging,” since 2022. |
| “Anecdotally, we’ve noticed these new organisations tend to be started by a passionate individual or group frustrated by a lack of relevant news in their local community, which becomes even more apparent in rural and regional areas during a natural disaster or emergency when timely and accurate localised news content is so important,” she says. | “Anecdotally, we’ve noticed these new organisations tend to be started by a passionate individual or group frustrated by a lack of relevant news in their local community, which becomes even more apparent in rural and regional areas during a natural disaster or emergency when timely and accurate localised news content is so important,” she says. |
| “The journalists are embedded in the communities they serve and that impacts their knowledge of issues, access to spokespeople and care in journalistic processes.” | “The journalists are embedded in the communities they serve and that impacts their knowledge of issues, access to spokespeople and care in journalistic processes.” |
| Looking back on the group’s first months of publishing, Lewis says the release of the first issue still astounds him. | Looking back on the group’s first months of publishing, Lewis says the release of the first issue still astounds him. |
| “None of us have done this before, so we were learning things like how to use desktop publishing software alongside trying to establish what is, even though we’re a nonprofit, a commercial enterprise, and what it needs in order to be viable,” he says. | “None of us have done this before, so we were learning things like how to use desktop publishing software alongside trying to establish what is, even though we’re a nonprofit, a commercial enterprise, and what it needs in order to be viable,” he says. |
| “I’m incredibly proud of and incredibly grateful to the team that helps make it happen.” | “I’m incredibly proud of and incredibly grateful to the team that helps make it happen.” |
| Members of ACM’s leadership team were contacted for comment on future plans for the Glen Innes Examiner. | Members of ACM’s leadership team were contacted for comment on future plans for the Glen Innes Examiner. |
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