BARRABA COMMUNITY NEWS NEEDS AN EDITOR

BARRABA COMMUNITY NEWS NEEDS AN EDITOR

From Terry Threlfall

Bronwyn has been the Editor of the Barraba Community News since this great little local newspaper started in 2020. The Barraba Community News is printed and distributed on-line and in hard copy weekly by the Community College in Barraba, an education and training organisation, as a community service. A new Editor is needed, because Bronwyn is leaving town early in the new year. Whilst Bronwyn does the editing from home, space is available to work from the College in Alice St. if preferred.

What does the Editor of Community News do?

Each Monday, the Editor sits down in front of their laptop (supplied by the Community College); their task is to fill the twelve empty pages with useful and important news and information; useful and important to the people of Barraba and surrounds. The Editor gives first priority to local news;

• Reports of local happenings or events featuring local Barraba folk;
• Details of upcoming local events;
• Local interesting photos;
• Local sport fixtures and results;
• Essential information from our local Councils, power company, from our State and Federal Members of Parliament;
• News about our local shops and services, schools and Health Services etc;
• Details of local community groups happenings, meetings, etc;
• Advertisements for local businesses and services;
• And, of course, Letters to the Editor – your say about local things.

Sounds a bit daunting, but most of these reports and details are regularly sent in by the publicity person of the group or organisation, or the information is hunted up by volunteers, (such as myself and Lesley who proofread each week) who assist the Editor. Once the Editor has done this, and there is some space left, he or she may choose to fill the remaining space with general interesting stories or facts, or some light-hearted entertainment. In addition, some information is gathered from websites and social media.

And those sources particularly lead us to the Editor’s most important task; to Edit.

Editing the Community News

The Editor’s most important task is to make sure that all the information that is published each week is true and accurate. It is to make sure that the source of the information is clearly identified and that the times and dates of events are correct. Any opinion about any topic is labelled as such; the author of that opinion is clearly identified. The Editor makes sure that nothing is published that could be libellous. A topic may be controversial, but the Editor makes sure that the reporting is balanced, and there is the opportunity for the “other side” to put their case. BCN doesn’t have to be as it’s always been. There is the opportunity to enhance the style and character, to make it your own.

This is where a proper edited newspaper distinguishes itself from the mass of social media available these days. All kinds of information, stories, news is published over the internet, on Facebook, etc. These sources are not edited – an item may be true and accurate, but it is often just someone’s opinion, or completely made up, or worse, planted there to deceive or defraud you.

With the Barraba Community News, you can be sure that what you are reading is a true and accurate service to our community.  

If you’re interested phone Bronwyn for a chat 0447 165 008. Feedback from the local community is always positive and appreciative of the team effort that goes in each week.