The Sandgrounder

Opinion

What the town actually thinks. Not what the press release says.

Southport Central website homepage showing sports and local news coverage
Opinion30 June 2026

On Independent Journalism in Southport

Twenty years of archival work, long-form reporting, and asking questions the local media did not always want asked. Dan Hayes, Editor of Southport Central, on what independent journalism actually requires.

A pig bartender serves Mikhail Ale at the MLEC grand opening while identical grey-suited men fill the seats for the BID Annual Gala. A reporter pig scribbles in a Stand Up For Southport notepad. A 515,000 Visitors Expected sign hangs on the wall. One pigeon sits in the otherwise empty back rows.
Opinion20 May 2026

The MLEC, one year from now

Southport has a pattern. The same names, the same undisclosed relationships, the same media contractor covering it all warmly. The Marine Lake Events Centre will not be different.

Lord Street Southport under its Victorian glass canopy, every shop unit showing a TO LET sign, a single pigeon on the empty street, one unit reading Grand Opening: Another Coffee Shop, and a billboard at the end reading Southport: Open For Business
Opinion20 May 2026

This town deserves better

Why The Sandgrounder exists, what it is going to do, and who it is for.