Stratford-upon-Avon Herald interview questions

I was told to come in for three days work experience at their headquarters. I thoroughly enjoyed this experience, as it helped me to gain industry experience in a newspaper's newsroom. I was given assignments and stories to write, all of which was brilliant experience. After this, I was told I would need to wait a week or two to hear bak on the next stage of the process, as they had other candidates - which was perfectly acceptable. Over 4 weeks later I received a "sorry, we are not advancing your application any further". I have emailed multiple times since for additional feedback, so I can utilise to improve my future prospects, the only responses I have received are automated out of office responses. I feel a bit cheated. It's fine that they did not want to hire me, but to ignore me when I made the effort of travelling 2+ hours per day, out of my free time? It seems like a poor way to conduct yourself as a professional publication.