Being a community radio rock music DJ was not the career Alaina Earl planned, especially in a small town of just 9,000 people.
She said she was "born to be a writer", but after falling victim to the decline in regional media offerings, losing her job twice at local papers and magazines, she made the switch to the airwaves.
For six years she has worked in the heart of Queensland's coal country at Moranbah's 4RFM community radio station, which runs 24 hours a day.
While other media companies broadcast to the town, it is the only outlet with a physical base in the community.
Ms Earl hosts three shows and, in true small-town fashion, also acts as the community liaison officer, magazine creator and programmer.
"Then we had nothing like that in Moranbah, so the community radio here 4RFM they chose to pick up that gap and start their own monthly newsletter, so I started that."
Communicating COVID-19
Moranbah is 150 kilometres south-west of Mackay and is in the Isaac local government area.
The region has some of the worst COVID-19 vaccination rates in the country and Ms Earl said as the only community radio station in town, she has been using her platform to advocate for vaccination.
The federal government's most recent published vaccination data shows only 63.5 per cent of people have had two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Something for everyone
Ms Earl said aside from COVID-19 information, the station serves the community by advertising community notices and teaching children media skills such as podcasting.
"We have a a lot of youth programs. We get the primary schools to come in and they read their school notices on air … and watching their confidence change from that first week to that last week when they come in is just phenomenal," she said.
The station also provides volunteers a space to broadcast content of their own choosing.
"We get people who tune in specifically for those certain shows, or then there's the people who hate country and they'll turn it off for that two hours and then turn it back on later."
Local voices needed
Central Queensland University media expert Celeste Lawson said without local media sources, people in small communities such as Moranbah can feel more isolated.
"It's an increasing challenge to have local news outlets, especially in isolated and regional communities," she said.
Dr Lawson said there are fewer journalists operating in regional communities, which makes it "more important than ever" for those that remain to report on events and activities.
