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Category: Media / Human Interest

Cooma-Monaro Express hits news stands for final time

Thursday, 5 May 2016 17:06:13 | Tom Lowrey

The Cooma-Monaro Express had been in print for over 100 years. (ABC News: Ian Cutmore)

After more than 130 years in the Cooma community, the Cooma-Monaro Express hit news stands for the final time on Thursday morning.

It saw Federation, two world wars, the birth of Canberra up the road and the ski industry boom in the mountains around it.

But on Thursday morning the Cooma-Monaro Express published its final bi-weekly edition, after the closure of the newspaper and Jindabyne's Summit Sun was confirmed last week.

In its final edition the paper said "Thank you and goodbye" to its readers.

The move is part of a wider restructure of Fairfax Media's operations across the ACT and southern New South Wales, with nine jobs expected to be lost.

We're a country town. There are always photos of our children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren [in the paper].

Cooma historian Deidre Clarke

But Deidre Clarke from Cooma's Historical Society said small towns like Cooma would be hit the hardest.

She said country towns held a special relationship with their local paper and closing down the Express was "foolish".

"We follow things that happen in our town, by the paper," she said. "People are going around saying 'Isn't it horrible? Oh isn't it terrible?'"

Ms Clarke even penned a letter to Fairfax executives.

"I wasn't nasty, but I told them what I thought of them. The fact that they were so foolish to close it," she said.

"We're a country town. There are always photos of our children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren [in the paper] and people like to see those."

Gemma Collins reading Cooma-Monaro Express. Photo: Gemma Collins has been reading the paper every Tuesday and Thursday for years. (ABC News: Ian Cutmore)

Newsagent Shane Clark said it was "a real shame" that would HAVE knock-on effects to his business and the rest of the town.

"It was quite a big shock," he said. "It's not like sales have dropped dramatically so it's a bit out of the blue on behalf of Fairfax.

"Country towns love their local papers and sometimes I think that the decision-makers up in Sydney don't understand how important local papers are to country areas."

Librarian Pam Veiss has over 130 years of Cooma-Monaro Express history on microfiche in the Cooma Library.

She said the paper was part of the community.

"We have people who come into the library just to read the papers," she said. "We also have people come in to use the paper [on microfiche] to look up family history.

"Everybody's had someone in their family feature in the paper. Maybe not for the best thing they've ever done - but they've been in there."

Express didn't go down without a fight: former editor

Former editor of the Cooma-Monaro Express Lee Evans. Photo: Former editor Lee Evans said the Cooma-Monaro Express had played an important role in history. (ABC News: Ian Cutmore)

Former editor Lee Evans began working at the Express over 40 years ago.

She started as a typesetter, became a journalist and rose to become the paper's editor.

She said the paper had played an important role in history.

When the Thredbo landslide hit in 1997, the local paper swung into action.

I steeled myself that I wasn't going to cry if it was bad news... but the tears came and I just could not stop them.

Monaro-Cooma Express former editor Lee Evans

"I heard the news on the radio and I came in and grabbed a camera and film and went up there," she said.

"They'd closed the road by that stage but that was a very devastating scene."

But she said the paper did not go down without a fight, putting in a submission to Fairfax to keep the Express up and running.

"We suggested ways of streamlining production like moving to one paper a week," she said.

"We were told that Fairfax did look at it closely and they crunched the numbers but they still couldn't see it being a paying proposition.

"I steeled myself that I wasn't going to cry if it was bad news... but the tears came and I just could not stop them."

While Cooma has not been left entirely without a paper, with the independent Monaro Post still in print, many residents say newsstands have been left with a hole unable to be filled.

A copy of the Cooma-Monaro Express from 1972. Photo: A copy of the Cooma-Monaro Express from 1972. (ABC News: Ian Cutmore)

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