I think this was my first hard news story to be published. I was running the radio station at Halls Creek and studying journalism online at Griffith University. Style is a little clunky but this is the kind of story I still love to do today. Thank you Gerard Willett for giving me a break!
Should a political reporter be a lobbyist?
Or, if a well-timed question to a minister prompts her to seek more information and perhaps change her mind, is this lobbying? Continue reading
This is the story of the legal action taken against a local councillor and then abandoned.
It prompted academic Joseph Fernandez’s statements about privacy law.
From the Great Southern Weekender Thursday, January 5, 2017.
Some new thoughts on what is and isn’t private according to Australian law.
From The Great Southern Weekender, Thursday February 13, 2018.
It is tricky to explain the workings of a local council to newspaper readers when the issue is complex and councillors are deciding how to vote.
From The Great Southern Weekender, Thursday, December 1, 2016 p1 and 2.
I think I was able to pull it off this time.
However this was not the end of the matter. One councillor decided to table a motion at the next meeting to reverse the decision, which is having an effect on the conduct of the current State Election. I will post the story when time permits.
I don’t often write headlines for my own stories, but this has to be my best ever.
The City of Albany and two neighbouring shires are working to solve their waste disposal problem.
This is a serious issue for all local governments.
From The Great Southern WeekenderÂ
This is an example of a story lead changing right on deadline.
I had written about a judgement made against a young man who had started a bushfire and was ordered to pay a six-figure sum in damages.
I interviewed the fire control officer who was pleased with this result.
My editor had already put the story “on the page” when the man’s lawyer contacted me telling me his client could not be jailed for non-payment as it was a civil matter.
From The Great Southern Weekender Thursday, August 11, 2016.
Denmark Shire in Western Australia has released a long-awaited feasibility study for a trailer-boat ramp.
From The Great Southern Weekender, Thursday July 28 2016 p 5
The council has voted not to proceed with the project. Continue reading
PLANTAGENET Shire has approved two free-range piggeries in two months, despite neighbours’ objections on environmental and amenities grounds.
Click on this image to read the story.
I love development stories because hardly anyone else does them.
Council minutes and agendas can make them appear so dull, yet to someone, somewhere, someone is planning to dig, build or change something right beside the places they live, work or otherwise value.
Click on this image to read the story.
This is not boring for them and if we don’t give them good information as readers we don’t deserve to be their chosen newspaper.
If a similar story comes up a second time, the challenge then is to see what is new about it, and tell the story afresh.
From The Great Southern Weekender
TEXT AND PICTURE BY GEOFF VIVIAN
Having just been through the disatrous bushfires at Yarloop and Wooroona and the catastrophic Esperance fire, many Western Australians are demanding to know what is being done.
Click on this image to read the story.
I would not usually go into such detail about fire control in a local paper but my editor agreed that people were in the mood to read this right now.
All through winter a prescribed burning program is reducing fuel loads in areas of bush, while giving wildlife a reasonable chance to escape to nearby intact habitat.
This is an account of a well-planned burn, how it worked and why.
I was really pleased with the pic too – nothing flash but I trust it conveyed the idea of “business as usual” burning rather than firefighting.