From June 3-7 the Illawarra Flame will be taking part in Australia's first nationwide fundraiser for local news.

The #OurNewsYourVoice campaign is run by the Local and Independent News Association, a professional body founded in 2021 to represent publications like ours.

Earlier this month, I attended LINA's annual conference in Port Douglas, where a personal highlight was hearing Federal Communications Minister Michelle Rowland mention the Flame in her opening address, as an example of the good work done by independent media.

Yet, as LINA’s executive director, Claire Stuchbery, notes in her May newsletter, the recent Commonwealth Budget saw no direct funding opportunities allocated to news publishers, despite widespread recognition of the urgent need to support media diversity. 

This was bad news for the many small publishers who have sprung up around the country to fill the holes left by the mainstream media, when big companies shut down swathes of papers during the pandemic. These new publications come in different shapes and sizes, print and digital, pay-walled and free, but they're all filling a vital role in connecting, informing and empowering their communities.

At May's conference, I had the pleasure of meeting many talented people who run publications like ours, from Mary Jo Fortuna (who's been editing Victoria's Waranga News for 45 years and already has an OAM but probably deserves another long-service medal) to Stella Yee of Melbourne's Manningham Life, who is single-handedly doing her bit for harmony in the city by writing about Australian traditions like Anzac Day and then translating these stories to Mandarin for a multicultural audience. LINA members include everyone from solo shows – like Queensland publication The Pineapple, where editor Vivienne Wynter is tackling big things like Borumba Pumped Hydro – to established enterprises like Adelaide's Solstice Media, which has about a dozen titles and a team of writers.

Thanks to Newsport's Sam Cullen for hosting the event in Port Douglas and Newsport photographer Jamie Jansen for covering it. The conference was a rare and refreshing chance to mix with people in the same business. Running an independent paper is a job that comes with a lot of love and a high risk of burnout. After 10 years in the field, we know the score. Unlike jobs officially in the public service, this is not a role that comes with sick leave, built-in pay rises or even colleagues.

So, from June 3-7, for the first time ever, we're taking part in a nationwide fundraiser run by LINA to keep local news thriving.

We'll be joining 34 other Australian publications to call on readers to help fund local news. We all represent a minority group sharing grassroots, independent, public interest journalism and, in these difficult times, a small donation can make a huge difference. Even simply signing up to our free newsletter will show your support.

As founding members of LINA, we would like to encourage any community with an independent paper to support their local publishers. And it needn't be a hand-out. Booking advertising with your local paper is the biggest hand-up, plus you get to be associated with a much-loved, trusted publication. Win-win!

At the Illawarra Flame, all contributions will go to creating jobs for journos. For while printing and distribution of the Flame is entirely funded by advertising, our journalism is not.

Over the years we've enjoyed mentoring the next generation of young storytellers, hosting several interns from the University of Wollongong and helping emerging feature writers get a foothold in our profession. However, despite a clear talent for storytelling, our graduate reporters do not face a bright future in the media. Jobs in journalism are few, salaries are low and the risks of redundancy, papers closing and a robot taking your job are high. 

Yet our grassroots stories are special – often they exist nowhere else. This is unique content AI can't crawl until we put it there. And readers love it.

This is why we'll continue to reinvest in local journalism, hiring and mentoring the young graduates who are our storytellers of the future.

Everyone who contributes is welcome to send us a news tip. Is there a local issue close to your heart? Tell us about it and if we like the idea, we'll pay one of our young (or old) journalists to cover it.

Please look out for the #OurNewsYourVoice campaign launch on June 3 and share your news tip via our Get In Touch page.

Thank you for helping to keep local news thriving,

Genevieve Swart & Marcus Craft, owner/editors of the Illawarra Flame