Lei Parker, editor of the new free shire-wide online newspaper was welcomed as guest speaker to last Wednesday's very well attended Eurobodalla Senior Computer Users group (EuroSCUG) meeting held at the Moruya Golf Club. Lei presented an overview of The Beagle, guiding members through the history of the paper, how and why it came to be, and where it sits in our day to day news feed. "It is inevitable that newspapers (in paper form) as we know them will disappear as more and more information goes online, and it is essential that we ensure that we are ready to keep up to date with the large and small news items, including those within our own community such as local arts, community events, sports, food, and even politics." "People want easily accessible, quality news on their computers, tablets and mobiles. They want it NOW and they want it for FREE "
Above: Beagle editor Lei Parker was guest speaker at Wednesday's EuroSCUG meeting
"While readers can find a vast array of newsfeeds for national and international news what is seriously lacking is community news. The core news that is important to one community but maybe not to the next. That is why the Beagle has the YOUR TOWN pages. To capture and present the stories that are important to that town or village and finally give the community in that town its own voice." "Of concern is the hammering our local newspapers, The Bay Post and Narooma News have already had with massive Fairfax cutbacks to regional newspapers that we saw last year" "Recent news such as "Fairfax Media has announced a further shakeup of its media business in a bid to reduce its editorial budget by $30 million. Editorial staff at mastheads including The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald are again facing redundancies". (ABC) is very unsettling as quality papers such as the Narooma News have a critical role in the community." "We all have a role to play in ensuring the local community is kept informed and included. The face of regional radio is changing, newspapers are service wider areas and as a consequence we lose the small detail which makes up the very fabric of our community and we lose the warp and weft of who we are". Lei said "It was encouraging to see all the hands go up when I asked how many members read the Beagle and it was equally encouraging to see a solid show of hands for those who still buy the weekly newspapers supporting our local journalists." EuroSCUG meets at 10am on the first Wednesday of the month at Moruya Golf Club, and local area groups meet regularly in Batemans Bay, Moruya, Tuross Head and Narooma.Monthly tablet groups (iPad and Android) are also held.For more information visit our website at www.euroscug.org, or phone 0431 809 073.
