Alan Brown, Ballina
The Echo must be congratulated for its expanding popularity in this region. It has shown ‘the only way is up’, diversifying its coverage to include interesting and important news stories in the weekly publication of this newspaper covering other shires in this region as well as Byron Shire.
Recently a friend introduced me to a copy of The Echo which I had previously ignored as I believed it only covered what was happening in Byron Bay. Not so! To my surprise, the enjoyment I got from reading a recent edition made me aware of my ignorance up to that time, for I was unaware of the change in the format of this publication.
The weekly publication will now be a regular for me, and from what I was able to gather it is greatly appreciated by many who have previously relied upon other local newspapers, now shut down, denying locals information about what might be going on around them. We have been starved of local events since the shutdown of the newspapers we previously relied upon for news coverage in the area but [ital] The Echo has filled that gap.
It is important that there is an instrument which accurately informs the general public as to what is going on around them and in their local area. A newspaper has historically been relied upon to understand the happenings within the community in which they reside. The printed word is so important and will forever be looked upon to give a true account of what is occurring around us over time and it will stand as a record of the history of the area in which we live.
There is an obvious increase in the advertising too in The Echo as a result of its expanded coverage, and I consider this will increase into the future.
I know that I will look forward to obtaining a copy from now on each week with the expectation that this newspaper will grow – giving us further coverage of items of interest within this region.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
