''The Byron Shire Echo'' is a weekly independent

compact Compact as used in politics may refer broadly to a pact or treaty; in more specific cases it may refer to: * Interstate compact * Blood compact, an ancient ritual of the Philippines * Compact government, a type of colonial rule utilized in British ...

newspaper published every Wednesday in

Mullumbimby Mullumbimby is an Australian town in the Byron Shire in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales. It promotes itself as "The Biggest Little Town in Australia". The town lies at the foot of Mount Chincogan in the Brunswick Valley about 9 ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia. The newspaper was founded in 1986 as ''The Brunswick Valley Echo'' by Nicholas Shand and David Lovejoy.

Overview

The newspaper published its first issue on 11 June 1986 largely in response to marijuana raids made by the

New South Wales Police Force The New South Wales Police Force (NSW Police Force; previously the New South Wales Police Service and New South Wales Police) is the primary law enforcement agency of the state of New South Wales, Australia. Divided into Police Area Commands (P ...

in valleys surrounding Mullumbimby. Shand and Lovejoy founded the newspaper as a

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life o ...

watchdog Watchdog or watch dog may refer to: Animals *Guard dog, a dog that barks to alert its owners of an intruder's presence * Portuguese Watch Dog, Cão de Castro Laboreiro, a dog breed * Moscow Watchdog, a breed of dog that was bred in the Soviet ...

due to

news media The news media or news industry are forms of mass media that focus on delivering news to the general public or a target public. These include news agencies, print media (newspapers, news magazines), broadcast news (radio and television), and ...

refusing to report on aggressive and illegal actions made by police. In 1991, Shand, Lovejoy and photographer Jeff Dawson established the ''Lismore Echo'' which would later be sold to the employees of the newspaper and renamed the ''Northern Rivers Echo''. The "Northern Rivers Echo" would change hands again with Australian Provincial Newspapers purchasing it in December 2008 and once more in 2016 when the newspaper was sold to News Corp Australia. before being totally closed by News Corp Australia in June 2020 A third newspaper named the ''Tweed Shire Echo'' began publication in August 2008, but ceased publication in 2012 as a result of low income. ''Echonetdaily'' was launched in August 2011 as an online newspaper covering news and events in the

Northern Rivers Northern Rivers is the most north-easterly region of the Australian state of New South Wales, located between north of the state capital, Sydney, and encompasses the catchments and fertile valleys of the Clarence, Richmond, and Tweed rivers. ...

region. The newspaper's website, through

Issuu Issuu, Inc. (pronounced "issue") is a Danish-founded American electronic publishing platform based in Palo Alto, California, United States. Founded in 2004 as a Danish startup, the company moved its headquarters to the United States in 2013. ...

; an electronic publishing platform, provides archived PDF versions of the newspaper dating back to 2005. A documentary of the newspaper titled ''The Echo Doco – Born To Be Trouble'' was released in 2011. Since 2010, the newspaper has been edited by Hans Lovejoy. He is only the third editor in the newspaper's history, after founder Nicholas Shand and long-serving editor Michael McDonald. The general manager of the company is Simon Haslam, columnists of the newspaper include Mungo MacCallum and Mandy Nolan.

References

{{Reflist Weekly newspapers published in Australia Newspapers published in New South Wales Newspapers established in 1986 Byron Bay, New South Wales