'All by myself': Professional, emotional and ethical isolation for remote Australian journalists

Since 2020, rural and regional journalism across the north of Australia — particularly northern and western Queensland and the Northern Territory — has faced dual COVID-related threats, both of which have isolated journalists covering these far-flung news patches. The impact of the withdrawal of News Corp in May 2020 (Barnes et al. 2022; Murray 2022), accelerated by the pandemic, left news deserts across much of Australia’s north in the depths of Australia’s first COVID lockdown. Subsequently, media outlets that survived the pandemic’s changed economic conditions adapted by decentralising, closing physical offices, and reducing staff numbers. Regions that once had bustling newsrooms now have journalists navigating the new media landscape, often from their own home offices, cars, and living rooms. As a result, the experience of being a regional or rural reporter is not only more challenging but also more isolating. This research draws from in-depth interviews with 10 journalists reporting in isolation from the Australian remote-rural north. We explore the impacts and ethical implications of the loss of a (physically) close professional community of practice, how it has changed the process of generating news, and the ways isolation and the tyranny of distance shape the stories these reporters are able to produce.