PODCAST - The role of community newspapers in holding local government to account plays a crucial role in ensuring transparency according to the Public Interest Journalism Initiative, also known as PIJI.
Chief executive officer, Anna Draffin, says "it is absolutely fundamental to a healthy democracy to have local news and make sure the communities actually understand what's happening in their own patch".
"There are plenty of studies that have shown where there's no local news presence in local government there's increased levels of fraud and misconduct," Ms Draffin said.
"You need to hold all institutions to account and that is the vital role that news plays, where there is an absence of news, evidence shows there's an increase in misconduct."