More than 100 local newspapers around the country have printed their last editions, leaving a gaping hole in the lives of many older Australians.
For 85-year-old Bernie Sisley, his pre-dawn trip to buy the local paper was a reason to get up in the morning — a way to stave off the loneliness he felt following the death of his wife, Pauline, almost seven years ago.
"Unfortunately, because I now live alone, it can probably be the only people I talk to that day," he said.
Six days a week, Mr Sisley would join about half a dozen older gentlemen (and a few younger ladies) for a chat on the footpath outside their local newsagent, waiting for it to open so they could buy the paper.
"After I listen to the half past five news on ABC radio, I walk up to the newsagency up the road and we just have a yarn of a morning," he said.
"I suppose like any groups of people, [we] just gossip about various things."
Aside from the social interaction, Mr Sisley said the newspaper gave him a sense of connection to the wider community.
"I consider it very important because it keeps me up to date with what's going on around the place," he said.
Crossing the digital divide
While his local newspaper, The Rockhampton Morning Bulletin, will continue to publish online, Mr Sisley said it was unlikely he and the others in the group would be able to cross the digital divide.
"Being an old fart, I can't handle all of that, so I'm stuck with just not having a local paper anymore," he said.
"Unfortunately for me, I suppose, it's my own doing, I don't own a computer, I can't operate one."
Fellow octogenarian Maurice McPherson said there were many things he and his wife, Lorna, would miss about being able to buy the local newspaper.
"At our age, you look at the funeral notices and if you're not in there, you're right for another day," he said.
"All the old fellas, there's a heap [who come] here, we always have a great yarn of a morning, and we'll miss it."
A sign of the times
Newsagent Sharrie Fehlhaber's family has owned the business for more than 18 years. She said the local newspaper made up a huge chunk of her sales.
"It's hundreds of people a week who won't be coming in," she said.
"Until it all happens, we're really not going to know how badly it will affect things."
Ms Fehlhaber said many of her customers had expressed their dismay at the loss of printed local news.
"It will be a very sad thing for central Queensland to lose our printed paper, that's where the soul is," she said.
"It's a big region and we want a paper and all the elderly deserve it."
'A human rights issue'
National Seniors Australia chief advocate and former journalist Ian Henschke said the loss of a printed local newspaper would have a significant impact on the older generation.
"If you neglect the needs of people, that's a form of abuse," he said.
"Taking something away from people or demanding that people operate in a particular way when they haven't got the capacity, I find it almost a human rights issue.
"We are in a period of social isolation at the moment with COVID and I think isolating people even more by not having access to the local newspaper is going to make things worse, not better."
Mr Henschke said there were 2.5 million Australians who weren't connected to the internet.
"It is very worrying that we are moving, I think, too quickly into the digital age," he said.
"This trend of thinking that everybody has a smart phone and a computer, it's just not what is going on in the real world.
"If we're going to have a fair society where we're going to be able to connect people together, you don't just ignore this group of people."
Filling the gap
In the wake of this year's cuts to the Australian print media landscape by Australian Community Media and then News Corp, some small independent newspapers have been cropping up in the hope of filling the gap.
Mr Henschke said it was clear there was still an appetite for printed local news and he hoped others would follow suit.
"I'm hoping that people will recognise that there is still an opportunity there," he said.
