We conducted a comparative analysis of this month’s sample of Great Southern, WA and the first sample undertaken in this region in May 2023, which found highly consistent results in terms of the scale and public interest journalism focus of news articles between the two samples. Our research team observed a significant overall increase in public interest journalism from May 2023 to May 2024.

The Great Southern region comprises 11 local government areas (Albany, Broomehill-Tambellup, Cranbrook, Denmark, Gnowangerup, Jerramungup, Katanning, Kent, Kojonup, Plantagenet, and, Woodanilling). The largest population centre in the region is Albany, 420km southeast of Perth.

hree Seven West Media newspapers serve the area: the Albany Advertiser and Albany Extra in the south, and the Great Southern Herald, based in Katanning in the north part of the region. The independent Denmark Bulletin publishes fortnightly.

The area is additionally well-served by commercial radio outlets, with both hit and Triple M stations broadcasting from Albany and Katanning. Community radio outlet Denmark FM operates from the coastal town, while the ABC’s local newsroom is also in Albany. Each of the three major commercial television networks, Nine, Seven and Ten, have a presence in the region. There are no known primarily digital news outlets in the region.