First East Coast NIT print publication hits the streets amid readership boom and digital transformation

To say the past six months at the National Indigenous Times have been significant would be an understatement.

Since January we have grown from three reporters to eight and now have reporters based in Washington State, Queensland, New South Wales, Tasmania and soon Victoria, as well as freelancers and columnists across the country. ‘Australia.

With editorial and editorial support from Seven West Media, the NIT was able to secure a stable monthly print platform in WA to share our stories with the Australian state’s burgeoning audience.

Our focus now covers everything from politics and the native title to sports and fashion, with dedicated journalists building strong connections with the people who matter in their chosen fields.

Over the past six months, we’ve sent journalists overseas to cover the achievements of First Nations fashionistas, consistently lobbied Australia’s state governments on treaties, Stolen Generations compensation, l incarceration and deaths in custody, and highlighted the brilliant work done by our Indigenous rangers, businesses and advocates.

And this week, for the first time, our newspaper was printed and distributed throughout New South Wales and Queensland thanks to a publishing deal with major News Corp Australia mastheads which also saw the NIT pass in tabloid format.

The East Coast release coincides with the imminent launch of our new website, nit.com.au, which will bring our digital news service into the modern age of storytelling.

Our new website will allow us to produce rich content and ensure that the most important and interesting stories are put forward for our audience where you want to read them.

This will facilitate the expansion of our video streaming offerings and enable the launch of several exciting podcast projects we have underway, ranging from deep dives into the incredible world of Indigenous culture to uncovering the conflicting truths of Australian colonization.

We also believe that there are important lessons to be learned from outside our shores and we plan to share more stories from Indigenous people around the world to help our nation better understand what it means to be a First Nations person. Nations and why our voices need to be heard. at all levels of society.

This growth would not have been possible without the support of our advertisers, grant providers, publishers, readers and the drive of our Board of Trustees to become the number one source of information about and for Indigenous Australia.

Unlike major national Indigenous information networks to date, NIT has no government support and is 100% Indigenous owned, giving us a mandate to support First Nations perspectives and peoples before everything.

As I said above, the past six months have been important for NIT, but that’s nothing compared to what the next six months will bring.

We are not resting on our laurels and remain determined as ever to see the National Indigenous Times tabloid one day printed in every Australian state and territory to ensure that everyone can read our news in the format that suits them best.

So stay tuned, there’s plenty more to come.

• Tom Zaunmayr is the editor of the National Indigenous Times