It’s a sad reality of news coverage that my local community only really makes the front page of the major Sydney newspapers and media when something’s going wrong.

It might be bushfires, floods or a traffic jam affecting drivers heading west, but it’s rarely a feel good story.

And once the crisis has passed, the national and metropolitan media circus moves on and there’s little interest in what happens next. Except from local papers. The weekly local paper doesn’t disappear from the scene but covers the less sensational but often more profound aftermath.

I say this with no criticism whatsoever of the metropolitan and national media.

In the 1980s, I began a career in radio journalism. Working in the Canberra Press Gallery and as a correspondent in New York and London, I was one of those reporters who had to move on after the story angles were exhausted.

But my arrival in the 90s to the Blue Mountains, a region that is sometimes considered “Greater Sydney” by bureaucrats but not by locals, with its own strong sense of community and identity, showed me the value of the suburban and local media that lands on your driveway or you pick up in the coffee shop.

I learnt about my community in those early days through my local paper. I got to know of the community groups, the small businesses, the sporting achievements, the characters of our towns and villages, the personal tragedies, the issues that worried people and who our community leaders were.

But it was probably the 2013 Winmalee bushfires, where my family and 200 others lost their homes that cemented for me the absolutely vital role local papers play in connecting community and backing community. They stayed on the story not just for weeks but for months and years, giving voice to a community as it recovered.

And I’ve seen that repeated time and time again in years since, with the natural disasters of floods, storms and fire my region faces.

In 2026, whether it’s through their physical or digital presence, local papers are more important than ever.

Australians are navigating an information landscape unlike anything previous generations have experienced.

Every day, our social media feeds are flooded with content from countless sources, much of it unverified, misleading or simply false.

Rumours can spread faster than facts, while AI-generated content increasingly blurs the line between fact and fiction.

In this sea of misinformation, quality journalism is an island of trust.

Professional news organisations operate to established standards of accuracy, fairness and accountability.

Journalists verify information, check sources, correct mistakes and distinguish fact from opinion.

They don't always get it right, but they try and they are accountable not only to professional standards but also to the communities they serve.

Between 2008 and 2018, there was a net loss of 106 local and regional newspaper titles across Australia, leaving 21 local government areas completely without local newspaper coverage.

When trusted local news outlets disappear, it’s often misinformation that fills the vacuum.

A healthy democracy depends on informed citizens, and healthy public discourse depends on a shared set of facts. We may disagree on priorities or political solutions, but meaningful debate becomes impossible when people cannot agree on the basic truth of what is happening around them.

As a former journalist myself, I know that there is just no substitute for showing up. Local journalists attend council meetings and court hearings, question decision-makers, speak with community organisations and report from the places where life unfolds.

Their work might not go viral, but it provides communities with facts instead of speculation and accountability instead of silence.

Just as importantly, local journalism creates a sense of place. Local sporting victories, volunteer efforts, cultural expression, community campaigns and small business achievements are the threads that bind communities together. They remind us that we belong to neighbourhoods rather than postcodes.

Reliable, independent local journalism is a public good and it deserves public support. The Albanese Government has made significant investments to build a strong and sustainable media sector.

The $153.5 million News Media Assistance Program has already supported more than 2,000 journalists across 185 news outlets, including 90 regional media organisations.

Our $31.5 million News Innovation Fund is helping news organisations adapt to a rapidly changing media environment.

Our proposed News Bargaining Incentive will ensure that digital platforms contribute fairly to the journalism from which they benefit.

Supporting local journalism is an investment in stronger communities and a healthier democracy.

At a time when public trust in institutions is under strain and online echo chambers are pulling us further apart from one another, quality local journalism remains one of the few institutions capable of bringing people together around a shared understanding of the place we each call home.

Photo: credit to Peter Rae and SMH