NEWS
Friday December 18, 2020
The Cairns Local News Success story TANYA MURPHY AS 2020 draws to a close, the team at Cairns Local News are celebrating three months in print, since the first edition was published on Friday, September 18, and six months since the first stories were published online in July. Cairns Local News (CLN) was started by three friends – Cairns local Peter McCullagh, Mareeba local Carl Portella, and website developer Lukas White from Melbourne. CLN editor Peter McCullagh is a Cairns local of ten years and has worked in marketing and communications for nearly 40 years including in newspaper, television, radio, magazines, digital and consulting positions up and down the East Coast of Australia. Peter spent many years working for a major multinational publisher, planning and producing many of their publications. This experience and understanding of publishing and readership steers much of the look and feel of Cairns Local News. He ran the communications team at Cassowary Coast Regional Council for 18 months prior to teaming up with Mr Portella to start CLN. “A community newspaper is an invaluable service which gives locals in our community a genuine reputable voice and provides a medium for the stories that the community wants to be told,” he said. “Cairns, this is your paper. Our team are long-term
locals who live in the community, who listen to what the community want to see in their paper. We hope to portray a wide range of viewpoints in response to the community’s beliefs and needs. “CLN also creates healthy competition by providing an alternative to the other major newspaper in Cairns, and provides affordable advertising opportunities to help local businesses. “So far we’ve had an amazing response from the community, who have really embraced the paper, and it’s only been a matter of months, so we’re looking forward to growing even more in 2021.” “With an extensive distribution area, covering Cooktown to Cassowary Coast, CLN is rapidly becoming the source of community stories for thousands of Far North Queenslanders. “A strong feature of CLN and a core value for the paper is a dedication to positively showcasing our region, the people and their stories.” Mr Portella, who has lived in Mareeba since the age of four, worked for the Tablelands Advertiser for 15 years including five years as the manager, before leaving to start Mareeba Express. Within a few years, the Advertiser and all other News Limited community newspapers in the region closed down. But the Express has continued to grow, expanding from a circulation of 9000 papers to just under 15,000 and dou-
Cairns Local News
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Celebrating three months in print
CAIRNS LOCAL NEWS TEAM: Business marketing manager Steve Andrews, administration officer Lisa Harris, journalist Tanya Murphy, business marketing manager Kath MacLean, business marketing manager Denis Olsson, and editor Peter McCullagh at the Cairns Local News office. (Absent) freelance journalist Nicole Gibson, graphic designer Michele Jules. bling their staff this year. The closure of News Limited’s ‘Cairns Sun’ in recent years left the Cairns community without a free community newspaper. Due to the popularity of the Express across the region, Mr Portella started to receive requests to start a similar free independent community newspaper in Cairns. “The success of the Express while several other newspapers owned by a multinational corporation have closed down in recent years, proves there is a big demand for free, locally and independently-owned community newspapers with a focus on ‘local people, local stories,’” he said. The CLN office will be closed from Saturday December 19 and reopen on Monday January 4, however the editor Peter McCullagh can be contacted on his mobile for the full duration of the period, on 0478 413 627. CLN will continue to publish news articles on the website daily, in addition to publishing a digital-only edition each week. CLN wishes all of our readers a Merry Christmas and a safe and happy New Year!
Meet the CLN Team
MANY people on our social platforms have been asking who the team are working behind the scenes at CLN, so without further ado allow us to introduce ourselves! Joining editor Peter McCullagh in the newsroom is journalist Tanya Murphy. Tanya studied journalism at Curtin University in Perth and was editor of a rural community newspaper in Western Australia before moving to Cairns nine years ago to pursue her passion for scuba diving. Since then she’s been working as a diving instructor at the Great Barrier Reef. In her spare time, she volunteers in marine conservation, and also moonlights as a professional singer and musician. “I’m really excited at the opportunity to return to community news with the opening of CLN this year. I absolutely love getting out in the community to find out what’s happening and help raise the profile of some of the amazing people and events in town,” she said. Nicole Gibson, a Cairns local of 24 years, has joined the team as a freelance journalist. She previously
worked for community radio station FM891 and SeaFM and is now studying a bachelor of Professional Communications. She is a self-confessed chocolate and dog lover of the northern beaches. Kath MacLean, a Cairns local of 16 years, joins the team as business marketing manager. She has decades of experience as a business account manager, and was manager of the ‘Cairns Sun’ for five years. She and her husband also own a florist, Edmonton Flowers. “I was very disappointed when the Sun closed. It’s imperative that people have the opportunity to read about their own local news and know what’s going on in the community,” said Kath. “I’m excited to be on board with CLN because it’s a paper that’s driven by what it can do for the community, rather than what the community can do for it.” CLN’s other marketing managers are Denis Olsson and Steve Andrews. Originally from London, Steve has been in Cairns 14 years and worked as a builder before a near-death experience and life-saving treatment by Cairns hospital staff enabled him a
second chance at life, and he joined CLN. Denis is from Albury, New South Wales where he worked in advertising for the Fairfax-owned Border Mail for 20 years before moving to Palm Cove in 2015 to start the Deli Adrift café. He sold it in 2019 and when he’s not working at CLN he can be found playing squash at Sportsworld, and being a social butterfly in Palm Cove. Michele Jules, our Graphic Designer and Prepress Professional, is no stranger to the Cairns region and publishing. Joining the Cairns Post in the 1980’s gave her a solid background in publishing before working her own business in Graphic Design/Publishing for 10 years. She moved to Brisbane with her partner where she continued working within the publishing industry before returning to Far North Queensland and joining us at Cairns Local News. Lisa Harris joins CLN as administration officer. She grew up in Innisfail and has lived in Cairns for 16 years. Originally an artist, she has brought her creative talents to the newspaper after working in employment services for many years.
