A revival of independent newspapers that started a year ago in Queensland continues to go from strength to strength.
Since NewsCorp announced the closure of most of its regional newspapers in 2020, a record number of new independent newspaper titles have emerged across the state.
The Today News Group (publishers of Queensland Farmer Today) is leading the revival with new publications in Rockhampton, Gladstone, Bundaberg, Gympie, Cooloola Coast, Burnett, Noosa, Warwick and Stanthorpe as well as in Ipswich and Greater Springfield – creating more than 70 jobs in the process.
Due to popular demand, last week Rockhampton-based local independent newspaper CQ Today marked its first full year of publishing by commencing printing two editions per week – on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
“Today News Group is not a corporation, we’re a group of independent publishers with different shareholders but a common vision and approach to publishing in the modern era”, said a director of the organisation, Damian Morgan.
“We have proven there is a still a strong demand for a printed newspaper in regional areas if the product is local, independent and well produced. We’re a modern news business and all of our content is published online, but we’re also committed to printing ‘journal of record’ type weekly newspapers filled with local news, local opinions and important community information”, he said.
“A local newspaper should hold the powerful to account while also providing a voice for the local communities we are a part of to advocate on important issues for our regions. In this era where false news spreads faster on social media than the truth does, it has never been more important to have a trusted and regulated source of news for local communities, and we’re proud to be providing that service’, said Mr Morgan.
Today News Group has also acquired the former News Corp printing facility in Rockhampton and is now printing many regional newspapers from throughout Queensland on the Today Print presses.
“This print site is an important piece of infrastructure for the industry and by restarting the press in Rockhampton we’ve been able to provide some surety to independent publishers across the state”, he said.
