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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Business
Amanda Meade and Conal Hanna

NSW flood-affected towns turn to Facebook and WhatsApp after local news sources disappear

Flooded streets in Lismore, New South Wales
Facebook and WhatsApp groups are ‘vital’ sources but can sometimes post ‘seriously out-of-date information or fake information’, says Alex Wake. Photograph: Jason O’Brien/EPA

The closure of local newspapers in many of the flood-hit towns in northern New South Wales has left some victims invisible and made residents increasingly reliant on local Facebook groups for information.

Rupert Murdoch’s media empire stopped printing the 160-year-old Northern Star newspaper in Lismore last April, 10 months before the worst flooding in history hit the northern NSW town.

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