This is the last edition of the Coonamble Times for the foreseeable future, after circumstances beyond the publisher’s control conspired to make continuing untenable.
“I’m hoping this is not the end of the road for the Coonamble Times,” says owner and editor Lee O’Connor.
“However we are having to cease publishing from this week because the anticipated sale of the business has fallen over at the last minute and we have run out of editorial staff to keep the news coming.
“Due to this lack of people power, we will have to put both our publications on ice.”
The Coonamble Times and Western Plains App went on the market in December 2025 and a potential buyer soon appeared.
But after accepting an offer at Easter and agreeing to a 1 July handover, which was then delayed to Friday 14 August, Mrs O’Connor says she was “blindsided” by the purchasers’ sudden withdrawal on Friday 7 August.
“The weekend prior they assured me everything was on track,” she said. “On the Monday one of the buyers assisted with interviewing a new journalist and on Tuesday co-signed a letter of offer.”
The journalist eventually declined but the buyers pulled out just hours before.
“I’m having difficulty understanding why they didn’t flag any issues ahead of time,” she said.
Doomed sale aside, recruiting and keeping trained editorial staff has proven to be difficult in 2026.
Advertising for a new journalist/editor began in January and, after two rounds without a suitable candidate, Gerald Rillstone was appointed and took over the role at the end of April.
“He was very capable and a nice person to boot, everyone seemed to get on with him,” Mrs O’Connor said.
However Mr Rillstone decided to return to his home in New Zealand just two months later.
“We had already lost our journalist River McCrossen, who had long planned his overseas trip to start on his two year anniversary,” Mrs O’Connor said.
“Our cadet journalist Kelsi Davis then had to return to Queensland for family reasons.”
Fortunately, local university student Sally Altus was able to step in for three weeks during holidays.
“We kept trying to recruit and, while we’ve had a couple of good candidates, we haven’t had any luck in getting them here quickly,” Mrs O’Connor said.
“I’ve looked under every rock I can think of, including using news industry networks and universities around eastern Australia.
“It needs someone with a bit of experience, without them it is no longer possible to keep publishing.”
Mrs O’Connors says she plans to put both publications “on ice” for a couple of months to give any interested parties a chance to come forward.
“There are definitely different options and models that could work.
“We’ll consider and support anything that will keep the Coonamble Times and the Western Plains App going.
“I believe local news is critically important for our communities and that it is done best by people living and working in the area they serve.
“It still needs to be done professionally and carefully, otherwise it risks turning into the tripe so common on social media, which is often opinion, propaganda or marketing masquerading as news.
“We are still hopeful there’ll be a new custodian for these publications waiting in the wings.
“After 141 years it would be a shame to see the Coonamble Times shut when it still has strong support from readers and advertisers.”