Letter from the editors: Changes ahead

For many local small business owners, 2021 has been the toughest year so far. And that’s also true for the team behind 2515 Coast News and 2508 District News magazines.

That our community news mag has continued to publish every month through two gruelling years of Covid – years in which News Ltd shut down more than 100 newspapers around the country – is something of a small, independent miracle.

But another serious Covid-related challenge has emerged: a paper price crisis.

Driven by a perfect storm of circumstances, from supply shortages to shipping costs to import taxes, the cost of paper was set to soar in December, increasing by up to 40%.

For some, it will be the breaking point.

For us, the solution has to be change on multiple fronts, not simply a hike in advertising rates. To make this community news service sustainable, instead of writing about other people’s Covid pivots, we will have to perform one ourselves. So next month, please look out for your local news mag reinvented.

Luckily, being journalists who began our careers in a time before the internet, we’re experienced pivoters. But we’d love to hear your thoughts.
Write to us at editor@2515mag.com.au if you’d like to have a say in the future of local news.

Change will come, but our high-quality content will stay, and we’ll still deliver monthly to more than 10,000 letterboxes, from Waterfall to Bulli.

Have a safe and merry Christmas. See you all in 2022.

Happy reading,
Gen and Marcus, the editors