Farewell Southbank News: more than a newspaper

When the August edition of Southbank News rolls off the press, it’ll mark the end of 15 years, 165 editions and one very special chapter in Melbourne’s local media story.

For me, this one feels especially personal.

While Docklands News may have been where our business began, Southbank News is where my own journey really started.

After initially interning at both titles and spending a brief stint reading the news at a regional TV news bureau in Shepparton, I found myself back in Melbourne in 2013, taking over the editor’s chair from Southbank News co-founder Sean Rogasch.

At the time, I really had no idea what I was walking into.

I thought I’d largely be writing local yarns.

Instead, I quickly discovered that editing this local newspaper meant doing, well, just about everything.

I was writing the articles, selling the ads, laying out the pages, answering the phone and eventually even delivering the newspaper myself. There weren’t many hats left unworn. It was, in every sense, a business within a business.

Looking back, I wouldn’t change a thing.

As someone born and raised in Melbourne, Southbank already held a special place in my memory. Growing up, a trip into the city often meant Southgate and the river promenade.

When I began working here, I found myself rediscovering that feeling through a completely different lens.

More than learning how to produce a newspaper, I learned something far more valuable.

Local journalism isn’t just about telling stories. It’s about facilitating community.

It’s about connecting people who otherwise might never meet, championing local causes, celebrating quiet achievements and occasionally giving those in power a gentle – or not-so-gentle – reminder that communities deserve to be heard.

That lesson has stayed with me ever since.

Southbank gave me the foundations for everything we’ve built at Hyperlocal News today.

When Shane Scanlan handed ownership of the business to me in 2018, that philosophy travelled with us as we expanded into the CBD, Carlton, East Melbourne, North Melbourne, Kensington and beyond.

It will travel with us again next month as we launch The Melburnian.

Over the years we’ve been fortunate to witness Southbank mature into one of Melbourne’s great inner-city neighbourhoods.

When I started, the population was less than half what it is today. Community groups were still finding their feet, services were limited and the suburb was only beginning to develop a stronger identity beyond being somewhere people slept after work.

Today, more than 25,000 people call Southbank home.

We’ve watched South Melbourne Primary School open its doors, followed the long campaign for Boyd Park, reported on the battle over Crown’s supertower proposal, chronicled the transformation of Southbank Boulevard, advocated for improvements to City Rd and Southbank Promenade, and covered everything from the expansion of the Arts Precinct to the rise and fall of Beulah’s ambitious STH BNK proposal.

Since 2016, we’ve also proudly extended our coverage into Montague, documenting another community growing within the Fishermans Bend urban renewal area.

There are countless other stories that could fill another 165 editions.

But some of the moments I’m proudest of never appeared as front-page splashes.

Watching the Southbank Sustainability Group grow from a small gathering of passionate locals into a respected community voice – eventually helping secure a community garden at Boyd – perfectly captured what local newspapers can do.

Sometimes our greatest contribution isn’t writing the story.

It’s helping create the conditions for the next one.

None of this would have been possible without the extraordinary people we’ve met along the way.

Thank you to Southbank Residents’ Association, Southbank3006, Southbank Sustainability Group, St John’s, the Yarra River Business Association, Victoria Police, our local councillors, state and federal representatives past and present, the arts organisations, traders, businesses, contributors and the thousands of residents who have trusted us with your stories.

To our advertisers, thank you for believing in the value of local journalism. Quite simply, there wouldn’t have been a Southbank News without your support.

And to my team, both past and present – Lauren, Kate, Jenny, Chris, Hanna and our incredible distributors who have walked every street and apartment tower to ensure the paper reached readers each month.

And finally, thank you to every reader who has picked up a copy over the past 15 years.

You’ve given me a career I never expected, friendships I never imagined and a deep appreciation for what community journalism can achieve.

While this is the end of Southbank News, it certainly isn’t the end of Southbank’s voice.

From September, that voice continues through The Melburnian.

The masthead may be changing, but our commitment to Southbank isn’t.

See you next month. •