By Jodan Perry

“A dog barking in the street [and] the local grandma who’s complaining about noise [are] just as important as keeping local council accountable about their financials.”

Michael Warren is passionate about local journalism.

We link up for a chat at 4:57pm after he is wrapping up another busy day as the editor of Newsport – a small but important part of the media landscape in Far North Queensland.

At first he tells me we have three minutes to chat.

But after we broach the topic of independent local news – we manage to easily turn that into 15, and there’s a feeling we could have kept going if this was a larger project.

“I’m from a small community so I have a passion for community journalism and covering and highlighting local issues and matters,” he said, “that’s why Newsport enjoys a very loyal and strong readership between Cairns and Cape York, because we’re on the pulse with what matters to the readers.”

Being from a small community drives Newsport Editor Michael Warren’s passion for local storytelling (Picture: supplied, Michael Warren)

Launched in 2007 with a print arm but now entirely online, the publication’s website shows just 5 core editorial staff, who are on the go generating free public interest news seven days a week in the Douglas Shire and the tropical north.

Warren, who Network 10 watchers may recognise from this year’s Survivor: Heroes and Villains, says there’s an important difference when working as a journalist at a local level.

“People rely on you, they see you in the streets. They want to get your ear and they want to talk to you about local issues, and they expect you to cover them,” he said.

“When you work more on a national level, it’s more of an impersonal attachment. You have an issue, you cover it, you do well, you make sure that it’s what the reader expects, but there’s less in terms of the interaction and engagement.

“When you’re walking in the local streets, you continually see the locals who aren’t shy in grabbing you and pulling you aside to express what’s on their mind.”

On the smell of an oily rag

As part of PIJI’s Australian News Sampling Project, data was collated to provide a snapshot of the digital output of news publishers in the region across the month of March. A total of 648 articles were included, with the report finding moderate to high levels of public interest journalism production and high levels of localism to the Cairns, Cassowary Coast and Douglas local government areas.

Of Newsport’s contribution, 96 per cent of stories had a local focus. With only a handful of staff, Warren says it’s “hard yakka.”

“Like a lot of media businesses you work on the smell of an oily rag. There’s no secret recipe,” he said.

“We’re a small, transparent, independently based community business that cares about its locals and its readership.”

“Proud to still be here”

For more than 140 years, readers have been coming to the Cairns Post – News Corporation’s sizeable masthead and also the oldest business in the city.

Over that time the Post has evolved from a broadsheet to a “multimedia company producing several newspaper, online content and specialist publications” and operates on a paid subscription model, like many current online news publishers.

It also syndicates big news stories from across the country through News Corp’s other mastheads, giving their subscribers the option to be informed more broadly than just their own communities.

Editor Tyla Harrington is six months into the busy role. She’s spent most of her career in local news across three states, winning awards for her regional journalism, and has edited mastheads including Shepparton News, as well as digital sites for News Corp.

We tried to quickly connect over the phone before the day kicked into overdrive (but I was driving my child to school), so we conversed over email.

“Regional journalism is something I’ve always been passionate about because I’ve witnessed the impact mastheads have on the communities they serve,” she said.

“Voices in Far North Queensland are, at times, at risk of being lost but it’s media outlets such as the Cairns Post’s responsibility to make sure they are not… we’re proud to still be here.”

Cairns Post Editor Tyla Harrington says there’s no better feeling than seeing a newsroom drive a positive outcome for the region it serves. (picture: Brendan Radke)

In recent years, News Corp merged the Atherton Tablelander, Innisfail Advocate and Port Douglas and Mossman Gazette under the Post banner.

The total operation covers a large area in a variety of ways, Harrington explains.

“Up to Mabuiag, Badu, Thursday Islands and down to down to Tully. But our focus is generally on Cairns, the Tablelands, Port Douglas, Cape York, and the Cassowary Coast,” she said.

“Journalists are driven to inform, inspire and advocate for our readers. It’s the cornerstone of what we do.

“Our focus is to be the first and best at everything we do, and to tell stories in a way that is meaningful to our audiences.”

Alongside the Post’s historical legacy, a new independent player also emerged in the city in September 2021, Cairns Local News, which has an online presence and is published every Friday. Our research showed the publication had the second highest quantity of local content across the month. The editorial team was contacted to be a part of this story.

Airwaves an answer for Yarrabah

A 45 minute drive to the east of Cairns is Yarrabah, an Aboriginal Community of approximately 2500 people.

Kuku Yalanji and Djungan man Ross Andrews has been the mayor of the local shire council since 2016. He says the only public interest type service the community had up until recently was a newsletter, but it had “broke down the last few months.”

Mayor Andrews says a lot of community members get their news from established sources in print, digital and on free and subscription television, and they also listen to Bumma Bippera, the only Indigenous radio service in Cairns.

Personally, he loves consuming current affairs programs on television and reading The Australian and the Financial Review. There’s a number of mentions of Rugby League throughout our chat, with the community very proud of their team the Seahawks. There’s also a big fan base for the Broncos and Cowboys NRL teams, although the mayor is a Parramatta man himself.

In his community, service providers regularly relay important information to the population through social media and also LED signposts in town, Andrews said,  but he would like to eventually see some news production.

“We would love to have our own BRACS (Broadcasting for Remote Aboriginal Communities Scheme, originally introduced by the federal government several decades ago) centre here up and running. We do have a radio station here that’s been non-operational for the last few years but hopefully we’ll get some funding in to really activate that,” he said.

Kuku Yalanji and Djungan man Ross Andrews would love to see a radio service up and running in Yarrabah. (picture: supplied, Ross Andrews)