THE NEWS IS A JOKE: Assignment 2 Research
POST TWO: The Research Process
For Assignment Two, myself, Darcy and Emilienne were put into a group with the assigned news story “Bendigo Shopping Strip”. The idea was originally Darcy’s, who guided Emilienne and me in the right direction by sending us a link to the Bendigo Advertiser as well as just giving us a general idea to what the situation is.
Prior to this assignment, I wasn’t even aware of the proposal for renovation of Hargreaves Mall in Bendigo. So far, my journey toward finding research hasn’t been too difficult, although it hasn’t been a breeze either. The issue itself is specific to Bendigo, meaning many of the sources are limited as the issue isn’t ‘big news story’ like a Melbourne CBD issue may be seen as. Despite this, the Bendigo Advertiser has been my main source for discovering context and information surrounding the plans for the renovation of the Hargreaves Mall and what prompted the Bendigo Council to propose the idea. Much of the context surrounding the situation I’ve found through delving through the past few months of reporting on the council and Bendigo community.
Myself, Emilenne and Darcy have all certainly been finding that the articles available aren’t as assisting in forming a contention for our piece, but more so in discovering an overall understanding of the issue as well as general facts.
I’ve collated a list of short-term and medium-term options that may potentially be put into place. These options include the installation of a park, hosting more events, looking into improving the public transport waiting area, supporting the building owners to restore heritage façades and more. Through further search on the Bendigo Advertiser, I discovered a variety of articles covering this issue, which alerted to me as how much of an ongoing and important issue this is to the Bendigo Council and community. Shopowners and Bendigo residents themselves are disappointed in the decline of the Mall, “it’s certainly… at its lowest in 15 years”, a store owner from Hargreaves Mall expressed, whilst Mayor Margaret O’Rourke reminded citizens that supporting and improving Bendigo’s CBD is the responsibility of the whole community, not just the council’s, and is encouraging and urging more people to shop there.
From my research so far, I’ve gathered that the council themselves are relying on the shopping centre management and the people of Bendigo to bring back a sense of community at the Mall. Although the council have a level of responsibility, it’s often been stated by many people in Council positions that ‘encouraging more people to live in central Bendigo will help reinvigorate the CBD by driving more foot traffic in the precinct’, and Cheif executive officer Leah Sertori was reported acknowledging that centre management and the council need to cooperate and work together for an overall improvement of the Mall, “That kind of co-ordination is what’s missing from the strip shopping environment” she said. Although I think this may be a strong point to go off in presenting the news story, I am hoping to find a balance in perspective from Bendigo residents and shop owners, and how they feel the situation could be improved, what they should be doing, and if the council is really doing enough.
Overall, most of these articles that I’ve discovered have been quite similar and all seem to have been published roughly within the past year, so I am hoping that through continuing the research process myself and my group members can find a wider variety of articles to assist us in developing a strong contention and for this project.
The articles I’ve sourced from so far:
https://www.bendigoadvertiser.com.au/story/5215228/how-hargreaves-mall-could-look-in-the-future-see-the-proposals/
https://www.bendigoadvertiser.com.au/story/5067746/walk-this-way-please/?cs=80
https://www.bendigoadvertiser.com.au/story/4763397/call-for-state-government-to-help-revitalise-cbd/