THE imminent closure of four WIN Television newsrooms is a sobering blow for regional media, but not a very shocking one.
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Staff at WIN's Orange, Wagga Wagga, Albury and Hervey Bay newsrooms were told on Wednesday that they would be out of work from June 28. The decision to close the newsrooms is a commercial one, and one that again starkly illustrates the challenges facing all regional media.
It's not that long ago that the local newspaper, local radio and local TV were the only sources of local news, financially supported by local (and national) advertisers that happily paid for access to those audiences.
But the internet has changed all that.
Metropolitan media has suffered the most from the loss of revenue as myriad new advertising avenues have opened up, but regional media has also been impacted. And if it's no longer commercially viable for WIN to continue producing local news in Orange, Wagga, Albury and Hervey Bay, then we should not be shocked by Wednesday's announcement - but we can be saddened.
The loss of any local media naturally means the loss of local stories. They are the stories that are dear to us all, and the challenge for journalists in the Western Advocate newsroom and other newsrooms across the region is to keeping telling those stories even as the media landscape around us keeps changing.
And nowhere has there been more change than in Bathurst.
Within the space of a month Bathurst will have seen three local media outlets change ownership and now a fourth - the WIN newsroom - lost for good.
The Western Advocate will have a new owner from July 1 when the sale of Australian Community Media to a private consortium headed by Antony Catalano comes into effect; the long-time independent owner of Bathurst Broadcasters, Ron Camplin, only recently sold his holdings to the Super Radio Network; and the Bathurst City Life news magazine will also soon have a new owner.
Through all that change, though, one thing remains the same: The importance of local journalism. And if people want local journalism to survive, then they must support it.
The Western Advocate is committed to the future of Bathurst, but our readers must show that same commitment to us. Please join us on this rollercoaster ride - if nothing else, we can promise it will be interesting.