Move over Sydney Morning Herald. Step aside Guardian Australia. Make room—wide berth, please—for the new titan of Australian journalism: Glen Innes News.
Yes, our humble, home-grown, community-powered newspaper has once again punched well above its weight, landing squarely on page 2 of the SMH on Monday, 17 November. All thanks to an article penned by retired local solicitor and part-time national influencer, Bill.
Page two, folks. Not buried among the classifieds. Not squeezed between ads for discount mattresses or suspiciously cheap solar deals. Page two—prime real estate usually reserved for Very Serious People doing Very Serious Things. And there, glowing like a lighthouse guiding the nation back to common sense, was a reference to Senator Tim Ayres’s article straight from our very own online paper.
(In the spirit of fairness—and sheer pride—we also placed our Tim Ayres story on page two of our printed Issue 23. If it’s good enough for the SMH issue 58,692, it’s good enough for us also.)
This is now the second time in a year that Glen Innes News has been cited by the metropolitan media. The first was in The Guardian, proving that lightning does strike twice—especially when Glen Innes’ weather patterns are involved. More importantly, it confirms the rising power of free, independent, rural journalism… powered mostly by good coffee and stubbornness.
So what does this mean?
Some might say it’s coincidence. Others might call it a fluke. I say: call me Kerry.
With this kind of reach, influence, and prestige, Glen Innes News is just one helicopter purchase away from owning its own cricket team. (I’m thinking the Glen Innes Thunderers. Uniforms TBC.)
Rumour has it editors in Sydney are now refreshing the Glen Innes News Facebook page before they check their emails. Word on the street is the ABC is considering a bold rebrand to the Glen Innes Broadcasting Corporation—for accuracy, of course. (Sorry, other Kerry—O’Brien—looks like it’s time to leave that rat race behind and move to the Highlands.)
Insiders whisper that major-city journalists now fear missing the biggest scoop of all: the going price for aged Merino wethers at Tuesday’s sale. Hard-hitting rural economics—they can’t get enough.
To the naysayers who say our moment in the media sun is fleeting, I say: bunkum. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither is global media dominance. Today, page two of the Herald. Tomorrow, front page of the New York Times. Stranger things have happened. (Well… probably.)
Until then, we’ll keep doing what we do best: reporting local news so compelling that the national press can’t help but borrow it.
And if anyone needs me, I’ll be brushing up on my media mogul skills, practising lines like, “I’m not here to make friends,” and shopping for a private jet big enough to fit the entire Glen Innes News newsroom—all three of us.
World domination always starts small. Sometimes, it starts in Glen.
