Media

The Times" newspaper printed in Donald will turn 150 near the end of this month. While time and space prevent us from going into too much detail, we must at least pay tribute to the founder of the publication, the late Godfrey Morgan, pictured here all those years ago with members of the staff and young family members.

From July 1, the Seven Network signal will stop broadcasting into homes across the Griffith area, taking with it the AFL, international cricket, and shows like Home and Away that have been part of lounge room routines for decades ... The pattern is clear: regional viewers are increasingly being pushed towards paid streaming services as traditional broadcasting deals fall by the wayside.

Madison Eastmond and Hugh Schuitemaker. WIN and Channel 7 will be urged to reconsider a decision that – from July 1 – will rob Riverland free-to-air TV viewers from seeing AFL, cricket and a raft of other popular programs. In a bombshell announcement this week, WIN said it would cease broadcasting Channel 7 signals into the regional SA markets of Loxton and Mount Gambier, plus Griffith (NSW).

Jeffrey Mellefont, Australian National Maritime Museum. Like everybody's first visit to Lord Howe Island, ours in early May, 2025, completely charmed my wife, Anna and me ... here's another one I particularly want to add: the very finest little regional museum that I've visited in ages. The Lord Howe Island Museum just bowled us over ...

Local police intelligence personnel track known regional grievances, according to a spokesman, replying to questions from the Alice Springs News whether initiatives are in place to prevent criminal payback after alleged events such as last Thursday’s in Gregory Terrace ... “As part of preparedness and prevention, Alice Springs police [act] to ensure possible flare ups are managed, for example [by considering] court appearances or community source information."

Exhibition Curator Ozan Fikri said he recently had the pleasure of meeting with fellow Narrandera resident Mark Wilkie and their conversation took an unexpected turn when he mentioned his roots in Cyprus ... Mark is set to share his work with the community in a special exhibition featuring 14 of his voyeur pictures.

Ordinary and Extraordinary Meetings of Clarence Valley Council (CVC) could proceed in the future with limited public attendance after CVC Mayor Ray Smith spoke of his plans to contact the Office of Local Government this week ... The decision was made at the conclusion of another 15-minute adjournment while members of the public and Clarence Valley Independent journalist Emma Pritchard were outside the Grafton Council Chambers.

Transparency is a very one-sided proposition for the Central Land Council (CLC): It wants the news media to publish its positions but it won't give answers to questions the media put to them. That's certainly the experience of the Alice Springs News with this secretive organisation which, like other Aboriginal land councils and land trusts, are not subject to freedom of information requests.

A small group of enthusiastic participants from Charlton, Donald, Wycheproof, and Birchip recently came together to trial podcasting and broadcasting equipment in a hands-on, skills-sharing session designed to support future community storytelling and fundraising.

Glenn Capelli is a globetrotting professional speaker with a long career that’s seen him travel to 33 countries to do presentations ... our conversation was long and full of learning and included Glenn’s observation that today’s world places too much emphasis on “big dreams and end goals”.

Sebastian Calderon. A well-known Riverlander will test his mental and physical limits as part of a popular reality TV series, premiering today ... “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to really find your limits and we don’t get that opportunity often": Ben Grieger.

Lorraine Dutton aka Lawless is a Barkandji woman, born in Broken Hill, raised in Bourke with a deep connection to Wilcannia. Back in 2017, Lorraine teamed up with Desert Pea Media (DPM) ... Lorraine has continued her work with DPM and is now being paid to improve her skills as a singer/ songwriter.

Leader of The Nationals David Littleproud said the Teals' 'fake online news site', funded by Teal donors, is extremely misleading to local communities and harmful to regional Australian media organisations. Mr Littleproud said it is disappointing the Teals have launched online 'Gazette News' in a bid to deceive residents...

An article by Krista Schade described as a powerful and courageous piece of journalism has won a national award. Australia’s largest association of independent news publishers acknowledged the very best of the best at the Country Press Australia national awards in Adelaide last month, with The Riverine Grazier story, Explosive Allegations winning the Best Story category.

Steve Krieg, From the Mayor's desk. I write this after last issue’s (Nimbin GoodTimes, February 2025) appalling coverage of the illegal squatters in Pine Street Lismore that three years after the worst natural disaster in Australia’s recorded history is diverting attention and resources away from our recovery.

The Murray Pioneer was named South Australia’s Best Country Newspaper for 2024 at last week’s Country Press SA Awards. The [Murray] Pioneer enjoyed an outstanding night at the awards ceremony, which was held at the Hilton Hotel, in Adelaide, highlighted by the best newspaper crown, which it had last won in 2019.

The following is the text of the address delivered by Donald’s Youth of the Year, Curtis Rice, at last Thursday’s meeting of the Donald Lions Club. "Have you ever called someone you have not seen in a while or messaged someone just because you can? This is all thanks to our phones, and I will be speaking on the effects of the government’s social media ban or people under 16."