How Print Journalism Returned to Charters Towers

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OPINION

By Jack May | Misfit Media Columnist

From losing the local paper to a high-quality, bite-sized magazine; here is how print journalism returned in full force to Charters Towers.

 What was once an iconic symbol of production for The Northern Miner (the Charters Towers newspaper), is now simply known as 73 Gill Street in Charters Towers. The building is a “High Calibre Investment Opportunity” that is on the market for $650,000, and not a representation of much more. Luckily for Charters Towers, there are dedicated locals who would go to great lengths in order to jumpstart community projects in the area. One of those locals is Daniel Sumpton, a young journalist who seems aggressively eager to keep journalism thriving in the small mining town. The 23-year-old journalist created Sumpton’s Gold Rush Gazette; a magazine designed to support Charters Towers locals and local businesses. It is backed by an award-winning producer from Brisbane and has multiple high-profile supporters. I have known Daniel through many of the contributions that he has made to Misfit Media over the past year, and sat down with him to discuss hot-button topics surrounding the magazine and future plans for the publication.

INTERVIEW:

I know this is a frequent question that you get but can you talk about the controversy surrounding whether or not the magazine is a replacement to The Northern Miner?

Frankly, Sumpton’s Gold Rush Gazette opens up doors that many newspapers don’t these days. You open most mainstream newspapers and what do you see? Gigantic advertisements, catalogues, news about American politics, and then maybe some local stuff sprinkled in. With the amount of local news that we are pumping out at such a fast pace, I am not sure I would have been able to do that writing for a newspaper. No, it’s not a newspaper, but if you can go without endless catalogues or stories about foreign policy then I think you will find that it’s not exactly a trade down.   

Do you feel like you’re talking more directly to locals?

I feel like locals are talking directly to me. I love it when people come in and sit down to talk about a local event or something happening in their life. I don’t care whether it’s a big shot celebrity or someone’s rock collection, I will figure out how to get it in the magazine as an enjoyable read. We are telling local, exclusive stories that have a lot of essential information for people within the area.

Talk about your style of Journalism. What makes the magazine so special?

Well, my particular field of expertise is soft journalism. I specialise in making enjoyable, feel-good feature articles about cats being rescued from trees. This has made the magazine a particularly suitable job for me as being supportive and promotional about the place I grew up in and love is super easy. I call it being supportive while informative.

What was your inspiration for starting a magazine?

Well I didn’t want to start anything. I am horrible with numbers and the thought of starting a business has always been a nightmare to me. I tried incredibly hard to look for investors to start a publication in town instead of me. I love North Queensland, and this is where I want to be. It eventually got to the point where I had to decide whether I was going to take some job offers down south or claw for one last shot to stay where I love while doing what I love. I grew up here, this is my home.

Okay, I think this has been a pretty informative conversation about you and the magazine. Lastly, what are your plans for the future of Sumpton’s Gold Rush Gazette?

There are still a lot of things the community hasn’t caught up to yet. People constantly come in looking for garage sales and funeral notices in the magazine, but we don’t have people who come in to give us that information. It’s entirely free, and I hope people become more willing to come in and give us that information so people can know a little more about what is going on in the town. I am happy to go out and get news about the town to fill that space, but it would be nice if people could be filled in about the things that I can’t just slap into the magazine without anybody’s permission.

As for any other plans, I take it day by day. The first season of Sumpton’s Gold Rush Gazette was a success, and I am very thankful for that, but that momentum needs to stay strong. If people want more, they need to support it. I am not backed by News Corp; it’s just me and a handful of incredible helpers.

Every so often, I will have a detractor come up to me and they will say, “Do I really have to pay $2 for that?” I wish that mentality would disappear. I mean, a can of Pepsi costs more than that. These are stories about your community, about your neighbours, about your region. I am hoping that Sumpton’s Gold Rush Gazette is the beginning of many publications setting up in Charters Towers. If I had it my way, multiple magazines, a newspaper, book publishing firms, and more would set up in town. People just have to be willing to support locals instead of massive corporations to make that happen.