Abstract
“They will never have a local newspaper again,” he said, adding that he believes the best they can expect is an A4 local newsletter.
Vivian, who has worked for Seven West media for four years and as a freelance reporter in local areas for a further 10, says that while a keen young local journalist may feel that reporting on councils in rural communities is an amazing opportunity to dig out stories, he believes many experienced journalists would rather work in a city.
“Many people see local government as small potatoes and don’t want to cover it,” he said. “The problem is it is the tier of government that is closest to our lives that is paid the least attention.”
There is increased concern about the future of local news in Australia. Regional newspapers are closing, television stations are broadcasting more centrally, and the recent merger of major media corporations Fairfax and Nine is likely to mean more titles closing.
Despite this, newspapers are still a relatively popular way for people to get the news. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, they are read by 67% of Australians, with 10 million people reading metropolitan newspapers and 6.3 million people reading regional and community titles.
Over the years, local news outlets have been responsible for exposing some of the biggest corruption scandals in Australia’s history. Eleven years ago, the government sacked Wollongong council in New South Wales following the Illawarra Mercury’s extensive coverage of corruption, including allegations of developers bribing staff.
In a similar example of local journalists breaking news, Newcastle Herald reporter Joanne McCarthy wrote 350 articles exposing the sexual abuse of children, primarily by Catholic clergy, in the Hunter Valley.
Her coverage was so damning that a Royal Commission was established to investigate, and McCarthy won a Gold Walkley Award, an honour for excellence in journalism, in 2013.
Former Prime Minister Julia Gillard, in what she described as her “very final moments” in the top job, thanked the journalist for her “remarkable struggle to tell the story”.
These are shining examples of how regional reporters can break the news that matters in local communities, but without local newspapers keeping a watching brief, any corruption or scandals in the future may remain unreported in communities.
The number of newspaper closures makes grim reading and smaller community papers have closed recently across the nation, despite being owned by major media players News Corp, Seven West and Fairfax Media.
In November 2017, Fairfax closed six western Sydney titles, reducing its suburban mastheads from 16 to 10. This resulted in the loss of 11 jobs.
Similarly, Community News Group, owned by News Corp and Western Australian newspapers, shut five papers in August 2018.
Fairfax Regional Newspapers closed the Wagin Argus, the Merredin-Wheatbelt Mercury and the Central Midlands and Coastal Advocate in regional Western Australia in 2015.
The impact of the Fairfax and Nine merger on regional media in Australia is yet to be seen. With Fairfax owning 160 titles, all eyes are on what the result of this partnership will be for local papers.
When speaking to investors, the chief executive of Nine News Hugh Marks stated that regional newspapers would do better in “some other environment”.
Local TV is also in decline. Regional TV stations have an obligation to broadcast a certain level of local content every year, but many are not meeting their target.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority report, Local Content in Regional Australia 2017, analysed local television coverage in 11 areas of South Australia, Western Australia, Northern Territory, Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and Tasmania.
Research found many of these towns were ending television bulletins, reducing local content or collaborating with newspaper journalists to fulfil their local content requirements.
Brenton Vanstone, deputy chairman of Regional Development Australia Yorke and Mid North (an organisation which aims to boost economic growth in this area of South Australia), and former mayor of the city of Port Pirie – a city 223km north of Adelaide – says he misses local news on television.
“When you turn on the television, all our news is from interstate,” he told Index. “Local news is now read from Canberra and it used to be read in Port Pirie.”
He also talks fondly about local programmes – including Women’s World and Panel Probe – that used to be made locally but which are no longer broadcast.
A cattle farmer reads a newspaper in rural Australia. There is increasing concern for the future of newspapers in regional areas
CREDIT: Andrew McInnes/Alamy
Staff cuts, newspaper closures and fewer reporters on the ground raise an important question about government accountability in regional areas and local towns.
Despite many rural areas still having a local newspaper, the quality of coverage and ability to cover council meetings is declining, and Vanstone says the original purpose of newspapers is now not being met.
Fairfax Regional Media cut back the Port Pirie Recorder to one edition a week in 2012 and made further staff cuts in 2015.
Like many of South Australia’s regional papers owned by the company, the publication has focused on growing its digital readership in recent years.
“That small country paper you once had is no longer viable,” said Vanstone, adding that the harsh reality is that proprietors need to make a profit, and if a paper doesn’t pay, its days are numbered.
He also believes local newspapers are heavily influenced by their dependence on advertising revenue from councils and local businesses in regional towns, so they are unlikely to be critical for fear of losing revenue.
Andrew Jeffries, a Parramatta councillor in Sydney, says community newspapers often have only one journalist across two or three mastheads. He believes this is not a broad enough approach and could lead to slanted coverage.
In Western Australia, Vivian believes that the success of local newspapers lies with the fact that they have journalists who are familiar with the people and the country.
“A steady stream of new faces with no contacts and no appreciation of local issues means stories that the locals will pick holes in because they lack context,” he said. “Journos who know the people and the district tend not to stay around unless they become the editor.”
He said that at Geraldton Newspapers, based 425km north of Perth, the number of reporters has recently been cut and independent news outlets are also suffering.
“In regional Western Australia, most newspapers are owned by one of two groups. Two thirds are owned by Seven West and one third are owned by Fairfax,” he said.
While the journalists who remain are experienced, Vivian admits the job is tougher with fewer staff.
“Where I work, this time last year there were seven journalists – now there are five,” he said.
Another regional journalist from South Australia, who wants to remain anonymous, says his publication is the poorer for cutting staff. “Councils are getting tougher to cover,” he told Index. “The coverage in local areas has become more human interest-focused.”
But there is some evidence that rural communities in Australia will continue producing community newsletters and independent newspapers if the major players disappear.
In the tiny town of Wandearah, 180km from Adelaide, the heritage society recently started producing its own local newsletter. Many other towns throughout Australia are doing the same.
But while these are enjoyable to read, articles from local churches and heritage societies are unlikely to win investigative journalism awards or expose corruption in local government.
There is no doubt that while human interest news has a future in rural communities, hard news reporting and the future of newspapers are at risk.
And when a paper goes, part of the community goes as well.