After decades of being a permanent fixture on many television screens across the Central West, WIN News will air for the last time tonight.
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Viewers in the Dubbo and Orana region may not miss it so much because the last Dubbo-based journalist working for WIN was never replaced when he left to take up a role at Nine News six weeks ago, the Daily Liberal understands.
Less than a handful of staff were working at WIN Television's Dubbo office when the Central West news bulletin was axed and the staff who were working there were focused on managing relationships with advertisers.
Adam Murray is understood to have been the last journalist who worked for WIN in Dubbo and he said the 12 months he spent there were rewarding and challenging.
"It was first job out of uni and I got it about halfway through my final year of study," he said.
"I got thrown in the deep end and that's helped me.
"I had to learn how to operate a camera and be a journalist by myself out in Dubbo...it was challenging but at the end of the day I'm glad it happened."
Mr Murray said WIN was "under resourced" and that "it was very hectic as a video journalist having to do two stories a day".
"Sometimes you couldn't focus on doing a really good story because it was like you were in a factory and you had to keep producing content all the time," he said.
"Everything always got done but it would have been nice to have a few more resources."
Mr Murray said the demise of WIN News is sad for smaller towns like Gilgandra and Coonamble, who now have less opportunities to tell local stories on the small screen.
He also expressed support for the journalists whose jobs may be at risk.
"I feel absolutely gutted for all them because I know they work hard," Mr Murray said.
How local news benefits you and your community
"Media diversity is important for many reasons," Charles Sturt University's (CSU) regional engagement adviser Fiona Nash said after WIN announced it would axe most of its local news bulletins.
She said having a range of media outlets in country communities allows local voices to be heard, prevents homogenisation of news coverage, highlights key issues not shared by city newsrooms and provides a sense of community.
"Commercially, traditional media is undergoing real change," she said.
"Advertising dollars are being diverted to social media platforms...news, entertainment, information and advertising are found on social media channels - Facebook and Instagram's influence is seen everywhere from politics to marketing.
"Opinion-makers are increasingly using social media and decision making is based on social media analytics."
Ms Nash said having no newsrooms in country areas would mean genuine coverage of Australian life in rural and regional areas would be lost.
"It has long term impacts on local business and entrepreneurship, political support for regions and generally ensuring our people are informed," she said.
Ms Nash urged regional media outlets to work with universities like CSU to ensure a future model of news making and sharing could be developed to the benefit of country communities.
Meet one resident happy to pay for local news
Helen Harris subscribes to the Daily Liberal online and in the wake of the WIN News bulletins being axed, she explained why local news matters to her.
"Local people need local news," she said.
"National news is good, but we also need to feature local people doing the little things in their own community.
"These little things may not be newsworthy to a nation, but they can and do make a difference to us.
"That's why I happily subscribe. To get local news."
Union wants action plan
The Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) said the closure of WIN Newsrooms in regional communities was a blow to public interest journalism that warranted government intervention.
MEAA Media Director Katelin McInerney said fewer journalists on the ground, local stories and voices hurts regional communities.
"It's vital that local MPs and community leaders take a stand to arrest the decline in their local news media," she said.
"MEAA calls on the Morrison Government to work with media stakeholders and local communities to urgently develop an action plan to arrest the loss of public interest journalism and to encourage and promote the development and growth of local news media.
"Reporting of local news is essential to regional communities. It goes to the heart of the role the fourth estate must play in informing and promoting a healthy functioning democracy."