My first appointment as editor was at the West Coast Sentinel in March 1992. The Sentinel is based at Ceduna and circulates across the Eyre Peninsula and the Nullarbor.
I returned home to Maffra from a four-month overseas trip in January 1991 to discover that recession had combined with drought to produce a rural downturn.
My employer, [...]
I wrote once before about how newspapers are nutter magnets. We’re dealing with one at the moment who is definitely in the hall of fame.
I won’t be too specific because the poor fellow is obviously disturbed and I don’t want to make fun of him as an individual.
But it’s interesting to discuss the consequences of [...]
The oldest worker in America is 100-year-old journalist Mildred Heath, according to this report.
Mildred works for a family owned newspaper, the Beacon-Observer. Her desk looks a lot like mine.
Publishing a newspaper isn’t rocket science; it’s common sense really. The influence of an editor is most noticeable in story selection and the emphasis given to particular stories.
While changes to the style and direction of a newspaper might affect sales in the longer term, casual buyers are won by word of mouth and a strong [...]
I wrote earlier this month about the lawnmower story. The story has “travelled” and even come to international attention.
I never published it on The Border Watch website, largely because I didn’t want to fuel a negative perception of the town.
Someone scanned the story from the paper and started an email chain which is continuing to [...]
There’s no doubt newspapers can be a powerful influence for positive change. I arrived at work this morning knowing the world would be a better place thanks to The Border Watch.
Our front page story today described the messy situation of irresponsible dog owners allowing their pooches to poo on the Blue Lake walking track.
We followed [...]
The Advocate in Burnie has advertised for journalists. Nothing unusual in that, except they have pitched the ad at non-journalists.
I find this intriguing and refreshing. I’ve employed some mature people before who weren’t trained journalists and I saw a couple come through earlier in my career with mixed results.
Mostly though, they were successful. It’s like [...]
I’m putting the finishing touches to a new dynamic website for The Border Watch. It’s my modification of the Revolution News WordPress theme. (more…)
I’ve started a new blog called Australian Newspapers. It’s not as though I’ve got plenty of spare time to invest in this, so I’m currently questioning my sanity.
The aim is to discuss industry issues and trends. I’m not aware of any similar site so there should be some interest if the site gets discovered.
I won’t [...]
Cleaning up before a big move always reveals some nostalgic items. Today I came across CDs containing copies of the Alpine News.
This was a weekly newspaper that Juliet and I produced from our home in Porepunkah for six months from July 2002 to January 2003.
It circulated in the Bright area and reached a peak of [...]
