How local journalists carry their communities through grief when reporting from within
Tributes were left for two boys who were found dead inside a Coonabarabran home in April. (ABC New England: Brigitte Murphy)
When tragedy strikes in small communities, the news does not fade when the cameras leave. It lingers in the streets, in the schools, in the quiet corners of local shops.
This week two people were killed in a mine explosion in Cobar, a devastating event that has again reminded regional journalists of the unique weight of reporting close to home.
Earlier this year, the deaths of two young boys in Coonabarabran, allegedly at the hands of their grandmother, brought similar heartbreak and sparked conversations about the lasting emotional impact of local news coverage on both reporters and communities.
For Coonabarabran Times editor Kait Britton, that tragedy changed how she viewed her role behind the keyboard.
Her heartfelt reflection on covering the story, I measure every grief I meet, earned her Editorial of the Year at the Country Press NSW Awards.
Kait Britton has to face her community when a story breaks. (Supplied: Kait Britton)
"My piece was born out of frustration at a very tragic event that occurred in our town with the loss of two little boys," she said.
"I wasn't just an editor and a journalist, I was also a mum to three young children who were impacted by what happened. So I turned to words."
Beyond the headlines
Ms Britton said writing became a way to acknowledge what her town was going through.
"It's important to acknowledge how our community was feeling," she said.
"There are long-term impacts affecting our community long after the event.
"I still have to live here and get groceries, so we tread lightly and we are sensitive to issues that happen here.
"We report the facts, but we do it in a sensitive way."
Tributes left at the Cobar Miners' Memorial after the death of a man and woman in an underground explosion. (ABC Broken Hill: Oliver Brown)
The story, she said, also revealed the divide between local and metropolitan media.
"I do realise that I'm part of the media pack, but I was an outsider to the metropolitan journalists," she said.
"There were people there talking about what was happening on the weekend, but I was worried about how I was going to break the news to my children and write about it for my community."
'Everyone feels it'
Bourke's Western Herald editor Tricia Duffield knows that feeling too well.
"Newspapers are the fabric of our local communities, so when tragedy like this strikes, it's felt deeply in our region," she said.
"There's distance between our towns, but they are all our neighbours.
"When something like this happens, everyone feels it."
Ms Duffield said local media played a vital role in helping towns process and remember, and not just react.
"Without local media, radio and newspapers, how do we keep the issues that are important to us alive?" she said.