A thumbnail dipped in tar: The resuscitation of a remote rural community newspaper using the Distributed Newsroom model

摘要

Residents of the remote central-western Queensland town of Blackall (pop. 1,833) watched their last locally reported and produced newspaper close in 2001. The nearest newspapers in the intervening years had been and continue to be controlled and produced from Longreach, 200km to the north-west, and in Charleville, another 300km to the south-east. In 2002, a group of Blackall residents formed a committee and asked local officers of the Queensland Department of Primary Industries (DPI) to help them in a project to start a new locally controlled and produced newspaper. Through the DPI, they also approached journalism lecturer John Cokley at James Cook University, Townsville, for advice and assistance. This article documents subsequent preparation for, and publication of, a pilot newspaper called The Barcoo Independent on October 24, 2003, and evaluation by survey, email and telephone interview.