Central connection: Examining a novel approach to enhancing local news access in Alice Springs

This research examines the role of a community foundation in reviving a local newspaper to serve the central Australian town of Alice Springs. The research investigates community perceptions of life without a local masthead, documents the process involved in re-establishing a newspaper and evaluates its perceived impact in the months after its return. The research also provides a review of not-for-profit models supporting public interest journalism and local news in Australia and internationally, with a specific focus on place-based and community foundations. The establishment of the Mparntwe Alice Springs Community Foundation provides a unique model in the Australian context, given its founders attracted an experienced commercial news company to set up a local newspaper (rather than develop a not-for-profit or volunteer- driven start-up) and pledged to support its sustainability through regular advertising. The research has found this approach has been generally well received within Alice Springs and that community foundations offer untapped potential in supporting vulnerable areas of Australia’s local news ecology.