ABOUT The Local

The Local Community News is an umbrella for a growing stable of community newspapers in Wellington, New Zealand.
Beginning in Mt Victoria in 2024, The Local was started out of frustration with the lack of good quality local news.  A further edition for Te Aro was started in 2026, and there are more in the wings.
 The Local aims to be the newspaper equivalent of heading to your neighbourhood cafe (‘the local’) to catch up on the latest happenings.
Our goal is to provide a range of stories – serious, important, funny, quirky and everything in between.  You will see the kahukura (Red Admiral butterfly) on our masthead.  This beautiful endemic butterfly sometimes flies high to take a lofty view, other times flits low, looking for tasty morsels.  That’s how we see our role at The Local – maintaining a view of the bigger picture, but diving deep into interesting community stories.
The Local is delivered every month to letterboxes in each suburb, and available from outlets at supermarkets and cafes.  We welcome contributions from the community, as well as advertising from local businesses and organisations.
A community newspaper can help bring people together, build connections, and make our neighbourhoods more resilient.
That’s the goal of The Local.

From the Editor

I’m excited to be involved with The Local.
I started my professional working life as a journalist on a community newspaper: the Motueka-Golden Bay News. I went on to work at Nelson Mail, and followed by Radio New Zealand.  I live in Mt Victoria and have been in Wellington for more than 20 years.  
Do you want to be involved?
If you’ve got a story idea, if you want to advertise with us, help deliver the newspaper each month or if you have a burning issue you want to write about, get in touch.  I’d love to hear from you, so we can make The Local a real part of the community.

Jane O’Loughlin