Local newspapers play a vital role in communities

The West Australian Regional Newspapers’ campaign to focus on the importance of newspapers to communities across the State continues.

The voice of regional communities for many years, local newspapers play a vital role in bringing stories that matter to people wherever they live.

The campaign will highlight the fact that despite a changing media environment where the emphasis is sometimes on digital media, regional newspapers remain the most trusted source of information for most people.

The campaign focusses on the importance for people to “Think, My Newspaper, My Community”.

The West Australian editor Brett McCarthy said local newspapers remained a strong means of connecting communities.

“While our newspapers are very active on social media and have a strong online presence to ensure our readers are always up to date, the printed editions remain a valuable source of news and information, ” he said.

“People are still picking up their local newspaper to see what is happening in their backyards, find a range of advertisers or plan their week.”

The West Australian Regional Newspapers general manager Ian Jones said the group’s 20 newspapers supported a range of events and groups including festivals, exhibitions, markets and sporting groups as well as volunteers, fund raisers and business opportunities.

“Local newspapers play a unique and essential role in the community, supporting a vast range of events and causes all over WA, ” he said.

“We have launched this campaign to remind people how important newspapers are to local communities and to make sure they think about how their local newspaper can support them.

“73 per cent of our readers agree that local newspapers are their main source of information on what is happening in their community.”

The latest research shows that newspapers play a key role in informing readers about local issues. Research shows that readers have a close and trusted relationship with their paper to stay informed about news and issues affecting their area.