A visit to Bega next week by a delegation from the United States will complete a circuit begun 60 years ago.
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The International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors (ISWNE) is holding its annual conference in Melbourne mid-week – the first time it has ever been held in the Southern Hemisphere.
After the conference, members will then enjoy a regional tour through Bairnsdale and then to Bega.
It has been a long time coming for an organisation that had its first foray into Australia through former editor of the Bega District News Curly Annabel.
Mr Annabel was also instrumental in instigating Australia’s first ever sister city relationship – with Littleton, Colorado’s Houston Waring, who was the inaugural president of ISWNE in 1955.
Now, 61 years later, the passion for regional reporting of a former Far South Coast newspaperman is bringing ISWNE back to the Valley.
Barry Wilson was a part-owner and publisher of the Merimbula News Weekly, and is now president of the primarily US-based ISWNE.
“It’s quite amazing where life ends up taking you,” he said this week.
Mr Wilson said he is “chuffed” to have the support of ISWNE in bringing its annual conference to Australia and to the Bega Valley.
“I hope you turn on some lovely weather for us!” Mr Wilson said.
“I’m absolutely chuffed to see this happen in Bega and really excited for them [the US visitors] to have the opportunity to sit around a dinner table and talk one on one with Bega people about the similarities and differences between their communities.”
He said ISWNE’s focus on regional newspapers and their editorials should be heard “loud and clear by readers”.
“Newspapers can encourage the community and advocate for their communities,” Mr Wilson said emphatically.
“It’s invigorating, empowering. Media is changing dramatically but newspapers remain critically important.
“It’s not necessarily newsprint these days, but regional ‘papers’ report accurately, professionally every week – which is something lacking in social media.”
Full itinerary for US visitors
Around 75 members of the International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors will be attending their annual conference in Melbourne, with 30 or so then joining the tour to Bega in time for American Independence Day on July 4.
On the itinerary for the visit will be a breakfast in Littleton Gardens – named for the sister city relationship formed by fellow newspaper editors Curly Annabel (Bega District News) and Houston Waring (Littleton Independent).
This will be followed by tours of the new regional hospital, Bega Cheese factory and heritage centre, a robotic dairy and then a bonfire and pizza night to mark Independence Day.
The delegation will be staying with local host families for the duration, departing Tuesday morning from the Bega Showground.