Commitment to covering local news

This week we launch The Avon Valley & Wheatbelt Advocate.

Since 1893 we have been your local paper, and we will continue to be so.

We are here to stay.

With a new masthead name and a fresh new layout, we re-commit ourselves to covering our local community.

This is a big change and we hope you, the readers, respond as positively as we have to the design overhaul.

It is an exciting time.

The system we are using, NewsNow, has been developed by Fairfax Media and for the first time, brings website and newspaper production together.

NewsNow technology allows journalists to publish breaking news immediately, and also prepare local content for the next day’s print edition.

The NewsNow technology is being rolled out at mastheads in Fairfax Media’s regional, rural and suburban publishing division, Australian Community Media.

As you can see, sections of the newspaper have been completely redesigned.

Some regular content will have a new home within the paper, with sections colour-coded to help you find your favourite reading.

This system has been designed with the community in mind, giving a pleasing aesthetic. 

It allows our stories, in both print and digital format, to be delivered efficiently and effectively.

It will allow you to have a deeper connection with the paper at all hours of the day.

However the more things change, the more things stay the same.

You will still be receiving a cross section of rural life, be it local news, sport, briefs and general goings on which help keep people from all walks of life up to date. 

Our editorial mission remains the same.

This latest change puts The Avon Valley & Wheatbelt Advocate at the forefront of change and innovation.

The Advocate has always been the voice of the Wheatbelt, and the name now only confirms it.

We have come a long way, and this is just the latest chapter in long and rich association with Northam and the Wheatbelt.

We are proud to be your local newspaper as we look forward to the future.