Editorial / Community
After 10 editions in print, your local news is here to stay
An experiment in community journalism achieves a significant milestone
Read about it! Our 10th print edition is on the streets. Photo: Harold M. Lambert/Lambert/Getty Images
Brunswick Voice
TEN editions of a printed newspaper may not sound like much, but for everyone who has been involved in putting Brunswick Voice together over the past four years, it is a significant milestone worth celebrating.
Brunswick Voice was launched online in 2021 during a period of despondency and crisis in the media industry, and followed the closure of all local newspapers in Melbourne’s inner northern suburbs.
Times are still tough for journalism and for the media, but Brunswick Voice is proof that there is a future for local news if enough people will support it.
The Brunswick Voice website was started to fill a vacuum of local news created by the demise of Rupert Murdoch’s Leader group.
This left important issues unexplored, moments of history unrecorded and powerful institutions able to avoid accountability.
Local newspapers — either online or in print — play other valuable roles by building social cohesion, nurturing a shared sense of community, and celebrating local heroes. They help to put people in touch with each other, raise awareness about common problems and curate debate and discussion.
Starting a local news outlet was a gamble but a risk worth taking if it contributed to a better community.
A print edition was always part of the plan to make Brunswick Voice accessible to as many people as possible because there are still many readers in the community who prefer to get their news in a physical form they can hold in their hands, and there are others who are not comfortable with reading the news on a phone or computer screen.
Brunswick Voice is now part of a micro-industry of hyperlocal news outlets that are springing up all over Australia under the umbrella of the Local & Independent News Association.
But we have to be honest that news deserts remain in most other suburbs of Melbourne. It is our hope that one day, not too far from now, new outlets can emerge in those areas also.
With no government funding and a limited advertising market, the future sustainability of Brunswick Voice will depend on the growing pool of financial contributors who throw a few dollars our way each month.
On our website you can find out how to support our work with a one-off or ongoing donation.
If you can’t get hold of a physical copy, you can also download a PDF of our tenth quarterly 16-page print edition and all past editions here.
If you liked this story, have you thought about supporting our work?
We are an independent, volunteer-run hyperlocal news organisation owned and run by the people in your community. With your support, we can continue to produce unique and valuable local journalism for Brunswick, Coburg and the inner north of Melbourne.
