Not for the first time, the privately-owned Coonamble Times in regional NSW, is struggling to find a printer.
But Lee O’Connor, who has been the paper’s owner and managing editor since January 2017, is hopeful. That track record alone has seen her through Australia’s COVID-19 pandemic, which prompted literally hundreds of newspaper closures, many by much larger publishers.
This time, the driver is Australian Community Media’s closure of its Tamworth printing facility earlier this month following its decision to cut back on editions of the (Tamworth) Northern Daily Leader.
O’Connor says the Times and “up to ten” other independent newspapers are currently in a race against time to find alternative printing facilities.
Among casualties is the Gunnedah Times, which published its last edition on May 7. The paper itself had ben created to fill a gap in 2020 when the Namoi Valley Independent ceased publication. The Courier (Narrabri), and associated Wee Waa News and North West Magazine will also cease publication.
Editor Dylan Smith said the decision reflected a combination of increasing operational costs and the logistical challenges associated with the closure of the Tamworth press site. “Our advertisers have backed local journalism through good times and challenging periods, and their support has helped ensure community stories continued to be told,” he said.
Final editions of the Warren Star and the Narromine Star were printed last September.
The Coonamble Times had reported that both publications had been created to fill the gap left by the loss of previous mastheads “but falling advertising revenue put both newspapers into the too-hard basket”.
O’Connor tells readers on her website she “believes every small town deserves a decent newspaper and aims to deliver quality local news to Coonamble and surrounds in whatever format her readers prefer – currently traditional print and digital editions.”
Launched in the 1870s and merged in 1913, the North Western Courier was acquired from Ian and Wanda Dunnet by Mark and Susie Slack-Smith in 2024, whose family own a financial services business, which also expanded into Narribri that year, complementing offices in Gunnedah and Tamworth.
Its demise has been greeted with sadness by shire mayor Darrell Tiemens, who lamented the loss of a community institution. “The Courier and the Wee Waa News represented something increasingly rare in modern public life,” he said. “They were voices of reason and moderation. They understood that journalism should inform communities, not inflame them. In a world where social media increasingly dominates public discussion, that distinction matters more than ever.”
To those who want to see the publication return, he says that will require “a genuine commitment from all of us to support local journalism much as it has supported us over many decades.
“That support means buying newspapers, advertising locally and valuing local content enough to invest in it. Good journalism costs money to produce, particularly in regional areas.”
Pictured: The Coonamble Times celebrated its 141st anniversary this year