The Melbourne Newsroom
Our story
Built by locals, for locals.
The Daily Network was founded in 2026 by Shane Anderson, a Canberra entrepreneur who believed every Australian city deserved a reliable daily briefing of its own. What started as one local edition has grown into a family of newsrooms across 19 cities — each one independent, locally focused and free every morning.
“Local news has been hollowed out across the country. We built The Daily Network to put a trustworthy daily briefing back in every city — free, fast and accountable to the people who read it.”
Our mission: to give every Australian community a daily briefing it can trust — sourced, transparent and made by people who care about Melbourne.
The Daily Melbourne is a local news and guides service for Melbourne, produced with AI-assisted journalism under human editorial oversight. This page explains how our newsroom works, where the people sit in the process, and how to hold us to account for what we publish.
AI-assisted journalism with human oversight
Our reporting is drafted with the help of AI, but it is not left to run on its own. A human publisher sets the editorial policy, defines the sources our system is allowed to draw on, and signs off on the guardrails the newsroom operates under. The AI synthesises facts from named, publicly available sources; a person remains accountable for every piece we publish. Sensitive stories, anything naming an individual or organisation in connection with crime, courts, allegations, misconduct or insolvency, are held back for human review before they can go live.
How content is sourced and reviewed
Every article begins with an allow-list of public, named sources, which we link so you can see where each fact came from. We synthesise from several sources rather than reproducing or rewriting any single one. Before publication, each piece passes an automated editorial screen that checks for higher-risk material and holds it for human review. Lower-risk coverage, such as community roundups and what-is-on guides, publishes automatically once it clears the screen. When we get something wrong, we correct it promptly and transparently.
Editorial standards
We publish a full account of how we use AI, what is automated, where the human sits, and the guardrails we run under. If you want the detail, read our editorial standards.
Contact the newsroom
We welcome tips, corrections and questions about our reporting. To learn more about who is behind The Daily Melbourne and how to get in touch, visit our about page.