Two local mastheads will cease publication this week, again changing the face of local news.

The final print edition of the Warren Star hit the stands yesterday (Wednesday 27 August) and today marks the last hard copy of the Narromine Star.

Both publications were created to fill the gap left by the loss of previous mastheads but falling advertising revenue put both newspapers into the too-hard basket.

Warren was previously served by the locally-owned Warren Weekly, which closed at the end of June 2022 after 37 years in print.

The Narromine News was one of the many non-daily mastheads belonging to Australian Community Media (Rural Press Pty Ltd) which shut its office and suspended its print edition as COVID raged in April 2020.

The Star banner was created through a partnership of Lucie Peart (Gilgandra Newspapers Ltd) and Tim Pankhurst (Panscott Media/Dubbo Photo News).

The Narromine Star first went to print in November 2021 and the Warren Star in April 2023.

"We did go in with the best intentions," Ms Peart told the Western Plains App.

"We've had the continued support of people who wanted to be part of a local paper like the councils, schools and sporting clubs, but we just don't have the advertising support to fund the print editions at this point.

"It's been a hard decision for us both as publishers and we're disappointed we couldn't make it work."

Lucie Peart with Minister for Regional Development Tara Moriarty. [IMAGE: Country Press NSW 2023]

But it's not the end of local print news coverage for both communities.

Warren news will be incorporated into a combined publication with Ms Peart's Nyngan Weekly, while the Narromine news is expected to be covered through Mr Panscott's Dubbo-based publication.

"With the merger of the Warren and Nyngan papers we hope to include and deliver all the local news and give both publications the best chance to succeed," Ms Peart said.

"The merger is the first step of a trial."

Narromine-based staff have been redeployed in Dubbo.

No positions were lost in Warren and Ms Peart said they will be looking for a journalist to be based out of Gilgandra to cover Warren stories.

Local government are major stakeholders in supporting local news coverage around the state and both impacted councils have provided comment.

"Our council is extraordinarily disappointed we won't have a local Warren-based newspaper, said General Manager of Warren Shire Council Garry Woodman.

"We understand there are still members of our communities who want and need to read paper-based information and we will continue to support a print edition."

In Narromine, Mayor Ewen Jones takes a similar view.

“The Narromine Star has been such a big part of our community, sharing stories and celebrating achievements since 2021," he said.

"It’s sad to see it close and we are very thankful to the team at Narromine Star for everything they’ve done over the past 4 years.

"It’s great to know our local news will still be shared through the Dubbo Photo News and that the Narromine region remains well represented in regional media.”