Don’t just complain about the collapse of our local newsmedia… do something to fill the gap.

Empowering local communities to fill news deserts is what Australia’s Local and Independent News Association is all about, and a new initiative packages its resources to help individuals and communities establish their own independent, community-focused news outlet.

That’s the objective of LINA’s Newsroom Starter Kit, a free, step-by-step guide designed to help those wondering whether they might take the initiative.

Executive director Claire Stuchbery says the ‘starter kit’ reflects LINA’s broader mission to support a thriving, sustainable ecosystem of independent newsmakers. “It is tailored for anyone – from journalists and community workers to passionate residents – motivated to raise the voices of their community and provide essential information,” she said.

Presented as a ten-chapter guide full of detailed information and sources of help, the kit has been developed with grassroots publishers, journalists and media experts, and responds to the urgent needs of communities left behind by the collapse of commercial media.

Stuchbery says more than 200 newsrooms closed across Australia between 2019 and mid 2020, leaving many regional and diverse communities without a trusted source of information.

Happily, the Public Interest Journalism Initiative found the “net contraction” of newsroom closures slowed significantly since 2022, which is also after LINA’s emergence as an industry association. There has also been an acceleration in digital newsroom openings in Australia, and 40 per cent of LINA member publishers have launched in the past four years.

Stuchbery says starting a newsroom and building its sustainability is a hard road, but one for which the kit provides a roadmap to make quality news services accessible in all communities.

Members heard the story of one such publication, Victoria’s Prom Coast News, at LINA’s 2025 conference in Melbourne.

Co-founder Kaye Rodden OAM (pictured) said passionate local volunteers and donors worked together to fill the news desert left in 2024 after the region’s 140 year-old local paper shut down.

“They were spurred into action by the prospect of the area facing upcoming sports finals and a local government election with ‘no local voice for the community or local way that the community could hear about their candidates’,” she said.

“The community weren’t getting any information at all.

“We started up pretty much with a piece of paper with all the jobs that needed to be done to run a newspaper… (thinking) ‘how on earth are we going to do that?’.

“We’ve uncovered significant things in the region. We have a focus on the environment and climate change… We’ve given local candidates for both the federal and the local government elections a really good airing so they felt like they could put their policies out to the community.”

Chapters in the starter kit cover why to start a newsroom; identifying the audience; creating a business plan and choosing a business model; funding your newsroom; content and distribution; newsroom tech; setting up newsroom operations; learning and development; and moving from launch to growth.

In addition, LINA offers newsrooms a range of other resources to build capacity and sustainability, and support Australian’s access to quality public interest journalism. “This includes free technical, legal, advertising and HR support, an on-demand sub-editor service (now free for interns), grants for journalism, discounts, training and more,” says Stuchbery.

LINA supports 176 Australian newsrooms, and has raised $520,000  for newsrooms so far through its Our News. Your Voice collective fundraising campaign.

Stuchbery says 30 per cent of member newsrooms expanded staff in 2023-24, and income for member newsrooms grew by an average 10.2 per cent in the same period, with 53 per cent of member publishers adding new revenue streams in 2023-24. Approximately $35,000 worth of services have been offered to each newsroom a year.

You can access the free Newsroom Starter Kit through this link. Contact LINA here.