Long-serving former editor of The Journal.
COMMUNITY newspapers – to be honest I much prefer to call them local – are a funny beast.
While their more glamorous cousins deal in headlines writ large, the suburban counterpart focuses on matters much closer to home.
You might think of it as the humdrum, the normal, the everyday, but in essence it is the very basis of journalism – telling stories about people and their achievements, analysing events and decisions and trying to sound the alarm, if need be.
All that on tight budgets while facing increasing red tape.
At the same time, the harbingers of doom say social media and the internet is making local newspapers redundant. Why would you bother?
Why? Because social media’s scattergun and incident-driven approach is superficial and impatient and the internet is increasingly unwieldy.
A local newspaper wraps up your news in a tight, easily-consumed package that can be put down, re-visited, argued with and responded to.
It lives.
As editor of The Journal for 14 years, I always admired the way the Star News Group newspapers, including the Pakenham Gazette, went about their business (though not always agreeing with them).
While I never knew Herb Thomas, I did know his son Ian, whose son Paul now heads the business. They are local newspaper people through and through.
In its 149 years, The Journal has undergone many changes of ownership and status.
What’s important is that it will continue as a vibrant part of people’s lives. I wish it, and its new owners, all the very best.
