The founder of a new newspaper has encouraged people to embrace the online delivery news after the closure and suspension of South Gippsland newspapers.
The Great Southern Star
Tuesday, March 24. Photo: The Great Southern Star.
Before starting The Paper, Dunn lost his job as a journalist with The Great Southern Star when the paper closed in March 2020.
“I always loved sitting down reading the paper, but the reality is that it’s changed, that old model is dead now. I think they won’t have any choice (readers) but to embrace online news,” he said.
Dunn said COVID-19 lockdown would force people to move to online sites.
“I think the lockdown is just going to force people into doing stuff like this and being online even more,” he said.
“There’s still value in newspapers for the life of the community, but it’s probably going to move to that online format. When we re-emerge, I’ll be pretty surprised if there are too many newspapers left.”
Pictured are Jane Gardner, Matt Dunn and Nick Jeremiah. The team behind The paper. Photo: Mark Drury Photography
The Paper – South Gippsland started a Facebook page at the end of March 2020, sharing a story about Clement the pig, quickly growing to 4300 followers.
“While we have traditionally been newspaper people, we’re embracing a new era – and taking our paper – ‘The Paper’ – online,” The Paper posted on its Facebook page.
“All things going well, there is a launch planned for Tuesday (May 25, 2020),” Dunn said.
“I mean, I honestly think and it’s probably egocentric because I’ve been in the business, but I think it’s got such an important role for democracy,” he said.
Clement the pig, along with Anne Roussac-Hoyne and Trevor Mack. Facebook March 27 2020. Photos: The Paper – South Gippsland news
“The other thing is, local papers can be such good agitators on behalf of the community for funding, raising the kind of issues that just go unnoticed in Spring Street or Canberra, unless you’ve got someone banging the drum.”
In a study into the survival of regional press, Deakin University Associate Professor of Communication Dr Kristy Hess found that “regional press plays a critical role in building social capital within communities by developing people’s sense of belonging.”
“Local newspapers stitch together the social fabric of democracy and are important for the health and connectivity of the local community,” she said.
Dr Hess said small independent printed newspapers would be necessary for at least the next five to 10 years because “patchy broadband” meant many regional areas struggled to access online media.
“I think the old and new structure of local newspapers will not just survive but thrive,” she said.
This is an opinion shared by The Nationals Member for Gippsland South Mr Danny O’Brien.
“I think, if you lost local newspapers, you actually lose a lot of that sense of community,” Mr O’Brien said.
“It’s very difficult to get people engaged in community groups more so these days. Whether it’s CFA volunteers, whether it’s the footy club, the netball club, the CWA, the National Party, whatever it is, we’re all struggling to get people engaged,” he said.
The Paper’s Sunday relationships columnist Megan Vuillermin. Photo The Paper – South Gippsland News
The Paper – South Gippsland News columnist, Mrs Megan Vuillermin, is writing a column called ‘State of mind’, which has been published twice on Facebook.
Before the closure, Mrs Vuillermin would occasionally buy The Great Southern Star but is an avid reader of The Mirror News.
“I would normally buy The Mirror, which I still do because it’s more local to where I live. I buy it for two reasons. One is to support them. But also, particularly in sporting season, football results,” she said.
Mrs Vuillermin, a business and life coach, is writing about families coping with home-schooling.
“Matt (Dunn) has taken on a massive job, without making money and I hope that he can make it, I hope that he can get it to a format where it will actually make an income,” she said.
Mrs Vuillermin said there is an audience that wants to read a paper and don’t necessarily want to read it on Facebook.
“There are still people who would like to advertise, and there’s no way to advertise at the moment. So, I think there’s room for this to grow. And people also want to read stories, they want to feel connected with people, particularly in small communities,” she said.
Mr O’Brien said research by The National Party showed local newspapers were a critical source of information for local communities.
“Particularly in South Gippsland, The Star and The Sentinel readership, were higher than probably what you’d expect elsewhere in terms of where people got their news, but I think there’s an opportunity on Facebook, other social media and online broadly too, to replicate what the newspapers have had,” he said.
Brad Lester, Facebook, May 14 2020.
The Great Southern Star shut down publishing on March 24, 2020, with the former editor, Brad Lester, announcing the permanent closure of The Great Southern Star and Yarram Standard on May 14, 2020.
The Paper – South Gippsland News is expected to launch online on Tuesday, May 25, 2020.
(Feature image: Local Papers – the closure of local newspapers has meant readers need to embrace online news delivery. Photo: Jaci Hicken)
