About the publication
The Daily Ballarat Newsroom
The Daily Ballarat is a local news publication for Ballarat and the wider region. Our newsroom combines AI-assisted reporting with human editorial oversight so readers get fast, accurate coverage they can trust and verify for themselves.
AI-assisted journalism
We use AI to monitor official sources, draft initial reports, summarise documents and translate civic information into plain English. AI helps us cover more of Ballarat than a small team could on its own, but every story is grounded in named, publicly available sources that we cite and link in the article itself.
Editorial oversight
A human editor sets the news agenda, defines what we will and will not publish, reviews sensitive stories before they go live, and is responsible for corrections. AI does not publish on subjects involving named private individuals, court matters, health advice or breaking safety incidents without human review. Mistakes are corrected promptly and noted on the article.
Sourcing and verification
We rely on primary sources wherever possible: council agendas and minutes, court lists, parliamentary records, ABS data, emergency-service alerts, Bureau of Meteorology feeds, ASX disclosures and on-the-record statements from named spokespeople. Where we quote or paraphrase another outlet, we link to the original. If a claim cannot be sourced, it does not run.
Independence and funding
The Daily Ballarat is independent and reader-supported, with revenue from sponsorship and advertising clearly labelled. Sponsors have no input into editorial coverage.
Learn more
Read our full editorial standards for details on how we use AI, source stories and handle corrections. To reach the newsroom, see our about and contact page.
Founder story
Built by locals, for locals.
The Daily Ballarat was founded by Shane Anderson, a Ballarat local who watched the slow hollowing-out of regional newsrooms and decided the answer wasn't fewer mastheads — it was smarter ones. The brief was simple: a free, ad-light morning email and a clean web edition that tell Ballarat residents what actually happened yesterday, in a 2-minute read, before they start their day.
"I wanted the paper I wished I could read on the bus into town," Shane says. "Local council decisions explained in plain English. Court lists. Weather you can trust. The footy result. No autoplay video, no pop-ups, no clickbait. Just Ballarat, every weekday morning."
The Daily Ballarat is part of The Daily Network — a 19-city collective of independent local newsrooms, each owned and edited by people who live in the city they cover. Reader-supported, locally accountable, and built to last.