Community
29 May, 2024
Local paper returns to the region
North West Weekly will be the only printed local paper in North West Queensland.
I can't tell you enough how great it is to be back in North West Queensland.
Since announcing we were going to have another crack at the North West Weekly, there has been unprecedented excitement in the community about the return of a local newspaper.
And I can see why. Since I’ve been back, it’s been very difficult to find out exactly what is going on in the region and when.
Without a newspaper, there’s no catalogue of what’s happened and what’s happening.
So how did my return come about? Well a few things have changed since 2022.
Firstly, when I started up North West Weekly I was also running the Cape York newspaper, which I sold last year. So that’s certainly freed up my time.
Secondly, things have changed in both the media industry and in Mount Isa.
The cost of living crisis in the cities is encouraging people to move to regional areas and Mount Isa now has affordable housing, partly due to last year’s Glencore announcement.
So we can turn a negative into a positive and try and bring some qualified reporters to Mount Isa.
Of course, the long-term plan is to produce our own journalists here in the North West and we’ll be looking at a cadetship in the not too distant future.
While I want to thank all of the businesses and organisations that have supported the return of North West Weekly, a special mention must go to the Mount Isa City Council staff and elected representatives for their initative to make a long-term advertising commitment to the newspaper.
That was no doubt the incentive required to have another crack.
And while it certainly doesn’t cover the costs of running the paper, it does give us a mandate to service the community.
Pleasingly, other councils in the North West have also indicated varying levels of support and we hope to secure some long-term arrangements with those shires, too.
In the first edition back you’ll see the value in having a local newspaper again – from the events to the sport coverage, to the human interest pieces and general news.
This is just the tip of the iceberg, however.
While I think this is a great little paper, it needs to grow for it to be sustainable in the long run. We need more business support and more advertising so we can put on staff to cover all that’s happening in our vast region.
And I’m confident we’ll get there.
If you’re a resident in the North West and want to support your local paper there are a couple of measures you can take.
Firstly, look at who is advertising in the paper and support them as much as you can.
And then look to see who isn’t in the paper yet and maybe give them some encouragement.
It’s great to be back!