It’s quite the challenge to come up with words to mark the occasion of the ten-year anniversary of Northern Valleys News. What to focus on? Perhaps the achievement of being a flourishing print media organisation in the digital age? This was certainly highlighted recently when old mate Zuckerberg pulled the pin on Australian news pages on Facebook. It showed the inequities for small regional media organisations being able to negotiate alternatives for online news (we don’t have the money to do a deal with Google or bring out an app!). But it also showed that nothing (or nobody) can stop the presses!
And then there is how amazing the Northern Valleys community is and what an absolute privilege it is to be able to give you all a platform for you to share your expertise, your efforts and your general excellence? I honestly had no idea of the breadth of volunteer community organisations across the region before I started with the NVN, and they keep coming! And all our innovative producers, the stars of our covers. They all may vary in what they do but they are unified in their passion and knowledge of their craft. It is fantastic to be immersed in their world and catch their enthusiasm when bringing their story to the region.
The drive and initiative of Tamieka and Jackie to bring the idea of a community newspaper to fruition in just two weeks certainly has to be acknowledged. Already busy individuals, what a task to take on! When we all met for lunch recently Jackie recalled those days back in 2011 — the red wine and late nights, sleeping on the couch, toddlers underfoot during the day, all while trying to fill a newspaper with worthwhile content and canvas for advertisers. No easy feat.
And there’s our advertisers, without whom there simply would not be a paper. Our independence frees us from being easily-slashed figures and mothballed mastheads at the bottom of a Murdoch spreadsheet but it does, sadly, limit us in experiencing the champagne-swilling lifestyle typically associated with the media! When you place an ad with us you are not only promoting your product, service or event, you are saying loud and clear that you care about other small businesses in your community and are choosing to invest in them. What a bonus message to give to your customers!
And because I am, at my core, a geek, I will leave you with a quote from Dr Who (which perhaps nobody but our Bindoon Bookworm Annie will appreciate) that frequently springs to mind with bringing the NVN together each month – “We’re all stories, in the end. Just make it a good one, eh?”
