Did you read the Shepparton News today or yesterday? The Benalla Ensign? The Adviser? The Kyabram Free Press? How would you feel if your local newspaper ceased to exist? Ross McPherson is uniquely placed to reflect on these issues.
Country newspapers are at the heart of their community, reinforcing a sense of place and connectedness. However today they face a myriad of challenges, like their city counterparts. The Internet, social media, artificial intelligence and fake news all distort the media landscape, and this is compounded by declining readerships and reduced advertising revenues.
This year the topic of the Greater Shepparton Bruce Wilson Memorial Heritage Lecture will be ‘A town talks about itself: the heritage and future of country newspapers,’ presented by Ross McPherson AM, Chairman and Editor in Chief of the McPherson group of newspapers, and prominent community figure.
If the medium is the message, how will our community conversation, first forged in the days of bullock drays and hand-set lead type, remain a cohesive influence in the era of algorithm-driven messages, artificial intelligence and social media distraction?
Come and hear veteran newspaperman Ross McPherson reflect on the history and value of local newspapers to rural areas, and the future for such publications in a rapidly-changing media environment.
Ross McPherson is rural newspaper royalty. He has printers’ ink in his veins and possibly the clatter of presses as a continuing tinnitus in his ears. He is the fourth generation of the McPhersons to lead the company, the family having conducted the Shepparton News for a remarkable 136 years: Ross’s great grandfather Colin purchased the newspaper in 1888 from the original owner, Thomas Haslem. The McPherson Media Group now owns and runs the News and eleven other local print newspapers in the Goulburn Valley, along with digital versions, and publishes several national agricultural magazines.
Ross studied law at Melbourne and London Universities and pursued mixed careers of law and journalism, practising commercial law in Melbourne before returning to the region – and the family business – in 1980 as Editor in Chief.
Ross’s community involvements have included a strong interest in education, health and river management. In the early 1990s recession, he devised the program for the Clever Food Conference, which brought Edward de Bono to Shepparton. It led to a variety of initiatives engaging local government, energy suppliers and the food industry, and to industry-education partnerships and the Fairley Leadership program, which he chaired for its first 10 years. He was a director of SPC Ardmona for a similar period.
Ross convened Foodbowl Unlimited together with John Corboy, which brought the Foodbowl Modernisation project to the region. He chaired the Goulburn Valley Hospital Foundation for 33 years, was a founding director of the Committee for Greater Shepparton and is a charter member of Shepparton Central Rotary Club.
Ross was also a deputy chancellor of Melbourne University and a past president of the International News Media Association, which has been particularly useful in helping the family business stay abreast of new technologies. He remains a trustee of the Hecht Trust and Youthrive, the Rural Foundation and is a director of the Greater Shepparton Lighthouse Project.
Ross was awarded the Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for significant service to print and digital media, and to the community.
