Cartoon of the Week

John Shakespeare

It's far too early to count Australia's 2022 federal election chickens

Since 13 February 2022 there have been 11 voter intention surveys published by the four major political survey companies – Newspoll, Ipsos, Resolve and Morgan Research.

None of these 11 surveys predicts that the Morrison Government will get re-elected in 2022.

However, investing in the idea that surveys indicate exactly what est.17,228,900 voters will decide as their pencils hover over ballot papers is dangerous for all concerned.

Nothing is a foregone conclusion. Every voter needs to make a well considered choice, because every voter has to live with the consequences of their vote.

On Saturday 18 May 2019 the national electorate went to polling booths all around Australia to elect a federal government.

The Australian, 8 May 2022
Click on image to enlarge

The day before “The Australian” newspaper published a Newspoll voter intention survey result which indicated that there was a 3 percentage point difference between Labor and the Coalition which – given the consistent poll results since 4 February 2018 favouring Labor – was considered by many political pundits to firm up the likelihood that Labor would form government the next day.

That didn’t happen. The Liberal-Nationals Coalition formed government with 77 out of the 151 seats in the House of Representatives, leaving the Labor Party Party holding 68 seats, Independents 3 and The Greens, Centre Alliance & Katter’s Australia Party all holding one seat each.

Right now the nation is just 11 days out from the 21 May 2022 federal election and, since 27 June 2021 consecutive Newspolls have developed a wide gap between Labor and the Coalition similar to the gaps that existed on Newspoll graphs in the lead up to the 2019 election.

Thirteen days out from the 2022 federal election there was an 8 percentage point difference in Labor’s favour in the Newspoll survey published last Sunday.

Expect the difference to tighten as election day gets closer.

Expect the predominately right-wing mainstream media (with a few shining exceptions) to take leave of its collective senses over the next 11 days as it fights to keep Scott Morrison in government.

Cartoons of the Week

Cathy Wilcox

Bill Bramhall

David Rowe

Trust in Australian media is at an all time low in this house

 

On Saturday 26 December 2019 The Guardian Australia published an article by its political editor and member of the Canberra Press Gallery, Katharine Murphy, titled “This was the year Australia restored trust in its politics – and that really is a miracle”.

I clicked on the article with some eagerness given Ms. Murphy’s solid reputation.

It was then I realised that I was being served opinion based on alleged facts I could not at that point in time corroborate.

The link to the initial findings of the Scanlon Foundation’s "Mapping of Social Cohesion 2020" led to another Guardian article published on 17 December whose own link purporting to go to these finding led to yet another Guardian article published in November 2019 which clearly predated the 2020 findings.

To make matters worse the link supplied in the Murphy article led to a bowdlerized comparison graph bearing little resemblance to past Scanlon Foundation social cohesion mapping graphs.

The Murphy article stated that the initial survey findings had been released on Thursday, 24 December 2020, which was a misleading statement.

On 26 December 2020 no initial finding were displayed on the Scanlon Foundation’s website, nor that of Monash University or ANU Social Research Centre.

In addition, as background Ms. Murphy cited a 2009 social cohesion survey pool of 3,000 individuals, when in fact that year the national pool stood at 2,000 individuals with another 6 local-level surveys with a combined total of 1,800 individuals.

It’s seemingly small facts relating to methodology which give clues as to how reliable are comparisons between annual surveys.

In fact in refining the national survey the number of respondents has gone both up and down over time and the number of local-surveys has varied across the years since 2007. While questions on the questionnaire form have been altered, as well the form changed in length with different interview duration.

What readers of The Guardian articles of 17 and 26 December 2020 could not know at the time of publication is what methodology changes may have occurred in the initial findings for “Mapping of Social Cohesion 2020” because there was no full disclosure of these finding by the newspaper. 

This is the graph that The Guardian published on 17 December 2020:

It leaves the reader to guess what percentages should be consigned to "Only some of the time", "Almost Never" and "Refused/don't know".

This is the more informative graph supplied by the Scanlon Foundation in 2019:

The Guardian articles of 17 and 26 November 2020 appear to be telling readers that national trust in the federal government to generally do the right for the Australian people has risen by 25 per cent between 2019 and 2020.

Alas, this reader must remain unsure until such time as the Scanlon Foundation’s "Mapping of Social Cohesion 2020" is finally published. 

Then there is the case of the somewhat conflicted columnist

Meet Ms. Parnell Palme McGuiness, columnist in Fairfax-Nine publications.

Managing director of Thought Broker Pty Ltd and managing director of Agenda C Pty Ltd. Both companies being in the business of developing targeted, traditional and digital media campaigns to create maximum impact for their clients and both operating from the same business address.

And who are their clients? Well that is not disclosed on company websites.

However, Ms. McGuiness did admit to having the Liberal Party of Australia as a client at one point and Austender reveals that over the last 18 months Agenda C has been granted three limited tender federal government contracts which appear to have been aimed at facilitating the Morrison Government's social media presence.

Agenda C states of itself; "What’s even better than telling your story yourself? Having someone else tell a story about you! We understand what makes you interesting to the media and work with it to make you interesting to the world..... Agenda C assesses, plans, acts and measures to steer you through tough times. Our experienced traditional and digital media teams work together to take control of the narrative so you’re back in control."  

Thought Broker says of itself; "Thought leaders offer a distinctive point of view by linking their subject matter expertise with wider debates, and in doing so, they present a credible and authoritative voice. Over time, they come to be sought out as an expert in their field and asked to weigh in with their experience. A thought leader communicates intelligently with people who can make a difference in business and public life, setting the agenda or shifting the debate by introducing a new perspective. Each of our thought leadership campaigns is based around a bespoke strategy which answers our clients’ business problem and supports their advocacy requirements."

Ms. McGuiness obviously sees no conflict of interest in being both a columnist whose subject matter is frequently political in nature and a director of two businesses (dedicated to using mainstream and social media to manipulate public perceptions), one of which derives income from federal government contracts.

In my opinion she is deluding herself if she believes everyone else see her self-proclaimed independence in the same light.

A mega petition is about to be considered by the Australian House of Representatives

 

The only direct means by which an individual or group can ask Australian parliaments to take action is by means of a written petition.

Australians have always had a right to petition parliament.

One of the most famous petitions would have to be the close to 30,000 signature petition presented to the Parliament of Victoria in September 1891 which asked that “Women should Vote on Equal terms with Men”. This petition played a part in Federation which in 1901 gave women the national right to vote and stand for parliament.

Another petition which isn’t always remembered is the February 2014 Pharmacy Guild of Australia’s petition asking federal parliament “to take whatever action is needed to ensure that community pharmacy receives the funding support it needs to stay in business, serve patients, employ staff and remain open after hours”, which had 1,210,471 signatures.

In 2016 the Australian Parliament introduced the e-petition alternative to paper petitions.

Until recently these e-petitions have contained signature numbers ranging from single figure to 4 figure totals.

However the following e-petition appears to have struck a national chord and its signatures are in the hundreds of thousands……..

Petition EN1938 - Royal Commission to ensure a strong, diverse Australian news media

Petition Reason

Our democracy depends on diverse sources of reliable, accurate and independent news. But media ownership is becoming more concentrated alongside new business models that encourage deliberately polarising and politically manipulated news. We are especially concerned that Australia’s print media is overwhelmingly controlled by News Corporation, founded by Fox News billionaire Rupert Murdoch, with around two-thirds of daily newspaper readership. This power is routinely used to attack opponents in business and politics by blending editorial opinion with news reporting. Australians who hold contrary views have felt intimidated into silence. These facts chill free speech and undermine public debate. Powerful monopolies are also emerging online, including Facebook and Google. We are deeply concerned by: mass-sackings of news journalists; digital platforms impacting on media diversity and viability; Nine Entertainment's takeover of the Melbourne Age and Sydney Morning Herald; News Corp’s acquisition (and then closure) of more than 200 smaller newspapers, undermining regional and local news; attempts to replace AAP Newswire with News Corp’s alternative; and relentless attacks on the ABC’s independence and funding. Professional journalists further have legitimate concerns around unjust searches, potential prosecution, whistle-blower protection, official secrecy and dispute resolution that should be comprehensively addressed. Only a Royal Commission would have the powers and independence to investigate threats to media diversity, and recommend policies to ensure optimal diversity across all platforms to help guarantee our nation’s democratic future.

Petition Request

We therefore ask the House to support the establishment of such a Royal Commission to ensure the strength and diversity of Australian news media.

Number of signatures: 501876 [as at 11:59pm AEDT, 4 November 2020]

Closing date for signatures: 04 November 2020 (11.59pm AEST)

The petition will now be presented to the House of Representatives where MPs already cowed by media monopolies may or may not decide to refer it to a Morrison Government minister who, in his or her turn, will in all likelihood take up to 90 days to boot it into political oblivion - in a show of support for News Ltd/NewsCorp and the Murdoch family who have been political donors to the Liberal Party since at least 1998.

For the second time since its 9 July 2020 first issue "The Northern Rivers Times" gets publicly admonished

https://issuu.com/heartlandmagazineaus/docs/northern_rivers_times

Echo NetDaily, 9 October 2020:

Lismore Mayor Isaac Smith has called for an apology from the the Northern Rivers Times over their front page story about the nomination of general manager Shelly Oldman for the NSW Government Minister’s Awards for Women.

‘The Northern Rivers Times must immediately apologise to the General Manager of Lismore City Council Shelley Oldham, the Lismore community, and their own readers for the very personal hatchet job they did on its front page this week,’ he said in a press release this afternoon (Friday, 9 October, 2020).

The article is headed ‘YOU HAVE TO BE KIDDING!’ and finishes stating that, ‘The anger when the announcement was made was apparent on Social Media and the people in the street of Lismore and surrounds.’ [sic] The Northern Rivers Times further claimed that, ‘more than 3,000 readers made comments’ on Facebook or contacted their office.

‘The attack on our General Manager is totally without substance. It is cheap lousy “journalism” and our community deserves better,’ says Mayor Smith.

‘The Casino-based paper appears to have a personal vendetta against Ms Oldham and Lismore City Council. It is the second time they have personally attacked our General Manager. Last time they were forced to print a retraction for its factually incorrect story.

‘The current article, which was mostly a lazy cut and paste from social media, claims that “more than 3000 readers made comments (on Facebook)” or contacted its office following Ms Oldham’s nomination for a NSW Government Ministers Award for Women.

‘This not only reflects badly on Council but on all the great women nominated for these awards and the Minister’s office who promoted it.

‘In fact, just over 50 people made a comment across a number of Facebook pages.

‘Many of us in the community were very keen to support this new paper and were prepared to accept early missteps, but it has gone from bad to worse and has now lost our trust.

‘Newspapers and the media have great power in our society, but with it comes great responsibility.

‘The Northern Rivers Times has failed the responsibility test and must apologise.

‘Lismore City Council will no longer support the paper or assist its “journalists” as the paper has shown it is has no journalistic integrity and does not even attempt to provide fair, accurate and balanced reporting.’

The first newspaper article which caused comment was one published in July 2020 concerning an alleged sexual assault that was described on social media as 'a nasty, victim blaming story' and a 'suspect' article.

Climate change denier Ian Plimer in the news again

YouTube GWPF video snapshot

Former mining geologist Ian Plimer (left) is nothing if not persistent. 

North Coast Voices has been noting his biased, inaccurate & frequently irrational opinions since December 2008.


This was the fall-out from one of his articles published nine months ago.

The Guardian, 24 July 2020:

An op-ed by Prof Ian Plimer in the Australian, which was condemned as blatantly false by climate scientists, has been found to have breached standards by the Australian Press Council. In November, his column titled “Let’s not pollute minds with carbon fears” argued that there “are no carbon emissions. If there were, we could not see because most carbon is black. Such terms are deliberately misleading, as are many claims.”

The article also referred to the “fraudulent changing of past weather records” and “unsubstantiated claims polar ice is melting”, as well as “the ignoring of data that shows Pacific islands and the Maldives are growing rather than being inundated”.

Despite a chorus of criticism at the time, the former editor John Lehmann defended Plimer’s article, saying “his voice is one of many which are important in the mix”.

In a lengthy adjudication the Oz was forced to publish on page two on Friday, the press council said the article contained inaccurate and misleading material in its claims that the Bureau of Meteorology had fraudulently changed weather records and that Plimer’s claims that there was no evidence polar ice was melting were misleading.

The newspaper breached two of the general principles of reporting: ensuring factual material is accurate (principle 1) and ensuring facts are presented with reasonable fairness and balance and opinion is based on fact (principle 3).

The council found that while it would have preferred Plimer’s links to the mining industry were disclosed in the column, the Australian did not breach guidelines in not disclosing because Plimer’s “past or present directorships of mining companies and advocacy in the debate around climate change were so well known” that it was not required.

Plimer is a professor of geology and well-known climate change denier who has served as a director of a number of mining firms, including Gina Rinehart’s Roy Hill Holdings and Queensland Coal Investments.

In reviewing the article last November, University of New South Wales professor Katrin Meissner wrote: “This article is an impressive collation of the well known, scientifically wrong, and overused denier arguments. It is ideologically motivated and, frankly, utter nonsense.”….

Meme of the Week

For years mainstream media have used a presence on the Facebook platform as an easy way to extend digital audience reach. What could possibly go wrong?

There are reputedly est. 15 to 16 million Australians with active Facebook accounts and many in the mainstream media avails themselves of the digital audience this represents by maintaining their own Facebook pages on which they publish newspaper articles with an accompanying comment, image and headline.

News Corp and Nine just found out the hard way that having unmoderated Facebook pages is never a wise choice.

In July 2017 then 20 year-old Dylan Voller commenced defamation proceedings against three media companies owned by News Corp and Nine Entertainment.

This is a news article abot the third and most recent judgment rendered in the ongoing legal saga.....

ABC News, 1 June 2020:

Three Australian media outlets have lost an appeal about a key ruling holding them responsible for the alleged defamation on Facebook of former Don Dale Youth Detention Centre detainee Dylan Voller. 

The 23-year-old is suing Fairfax Media — now owned by Nine Entertainment — Nationwide News and Sky News over comments posted by members of the public in response to articles they placed on their Facebook pages. 

Last year, a New South Wales Supreme Court judge ruled the media companies were publishers of the comments — and therefore liable for them — and the media companies appealed. 

The NSW Court of Appeal today dismissed the challenge and said it was clear the relevant Facebook pages were created on the basis users would be invited to post comments. 

Justices John Basten, Anthony Meagher and Carolyn Simpson said the organisations "accepted responsibility for the use of their Facebook facilities for the publication of comments, including defamatory comments".  
"It was the applicants who provided the vehicle for publication to those who availed themselves of it," they wrote in the judgment. 

'Turning a blind eye' no defence 

The judges said it was not uncommon for someone to be held liable for publishing defamatory imputations conveyed by "matter composed by another person". 

They drew parallels to cases where the owners or occupiers of buildings had been taken to court over defamatory statements on noticeboards or scrawled in graffiti. 

The court is yet to tackle the question of whether the material in question was defamatory. 

In his initial decision last year, Justice Stephen Rothman said defendants could not escape consequences of their actions by "turning a blind eye". 

He also ruled the defence of innocent dissemination was not available because the defendants were first or primary distributors. 

Mr Voller's statement of claim alleges he was defamed by imputations including that he had "brutally bashed a Salvation Army Officer", had raped an elderly woman, that he committed a carjacking and that he had bitten off someone's ear. 

The comments were posted between July 2016 and June 2017 on pages run by the Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian, Sky News, The Bolt Report and The Centralian Advocate. 

Mr Voller's treatment at the Don Dale Youth Detention Centre, which was the subject of an ABC Four Corners investigation in 2016, sparked a royal commission into youth detention facilities.

The judgment in Fairfax Media Publications; Nationwide News Pty Ltd; Australian News Channel Pty Ltd v Voller [2020] NSWCA 102 dismissed the appeal, ordered the applicants pay the respondent’s costs in the appeal proceedings and dismissed the notice of motion of Bauer Media Pty Ltd, Dailymail.com Australia Pty Ltd and Seven West Media Ltd filed on 23 August 2019 (the latter three media companies having sought leave to appear as amici curiae in the proceedings).

News Corp goes digital & withdraws from print media in the NSW Northern Rivers region - with small print 'community' mastheads disappearing entirely

Last year News Corp told its shareholders that: "In addition, the Company has divested and may in the future divest certain assets or businesses that no longer fit with its strategic direction or growth targets."

It seems that such an event came to pass in May 2020, not quite four years after News Corp purchased so many of those print newspapers it is now closing down entirely or reinventing as purely digital news platforms.

Perhaps the clue to this restructuring is in the fact that this multinational media corporation mentioned "loss" or "losses" at least 223 times in its Annual Report 2019.

With News Corp owning 150 print newspapers, at the end May 2019 its readership across all mastheads only appeared to reach a weekly average of est. 7.7 million out of a nation of over 25 million people.

However, the Northern Rivers is the only NSW region being completely restructured - losing five small print 'community' newspapers entirely and six of its print news mastheads becoming digital news platforms only from Monday 29 June 2020.

News Corp Australia, media release, 27 May 2020: 

News Corp Australia announces portfolio changes 

The Executive Chairman of News Corp Australasia, Mr Michael Miller, today announced significant changes to News Corp Australia’s publishing portfolio. 

Mr Miller said that over recent months News Corp had undertaken a comprehensive review of its regional and community newspapers. This review considered the ongoing consumer shift to reading and subscribing to news online, and the acceleration of businesses using digital advertising.  

“COVID-19 has impacted the sustainability of community and regional publishing. Despite the audiences of News Corp’s digital mastheads growing more than 60 per cent as Australians turned to trusted media sources during the peak of the recent COVID-19 lockdowns, print advertising spending which contributes the majority of our revenues, has accelerated its decline,” Mr Miller said. 

“Consequently, to meet these changing trends, we are reshaping News Corp Australia to focus on where consumers and businesses are moving and to strengthen our position as Australia’s leading digital news media company. This will involve employing more digital only journalists and making investments in digital advertising and marketing solutions for our partners.” 

Mr Miller said News Corp’s portfolio review highlighted that many of our print mastheads were challenged, and the double impact of COVID-19 and the tech platforms not remunerating the local publisher whose content they profit from, had, unfortunately, made them unsustainable publications. 

He said the portfolio changes being implemented would mean that from Monday June 29 the bulk of News Corp’s regional and community titles would move to purely digital publishing. 

“More than 375 journalists will be specifically covering regional and community news and information. They will continue to serve, and live in, their local communities with the majority in regional Queensland where we have most of our titles,” Mr Miller said. 

“More than 640,000 Australians, our latest figures show, are currently subscribing to News Corp’s digital news content and subscriptions are growing at an annual rate of 24 per cent. 

“Much of this growth is from local news, where subscribers have more than doubled in the past year. In regional Queensland more than 80,000 people have digital subscriptions and this number has grown by more than 40 per cent this year. 

“I’m confident that these numbers will accelerate through dedicated and constant digital publishing and continuing to serve the local communities whose trust and community commitment the mastheads have developed over decades. 

“Over the past 19 months News has launched 16 new digital only local mastheads. In total we will now publish 92 digital only regional and community mastheads, each offering readers rolling coverage, electronic alerts and newsletters, richer audio and video content and deeper local sport coverage and community debate. 

“At the same time, News Corp’s major mastheads in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide – The Courier-Mail, The Daily Telegraph, the Herald Sun and The Advertiser – will now become more state focused with increased regional content and will partner with our regional and community local titles in their states to ensure we deliver compelling journalism to Australian consumers regardless of where they live. 

Subscribers wherever they live will now have access to the best of News Corp’s local, regional, state, national and international news, sport, features and columnists.” 

Describing the changes being announced today, Mr Miller said: “These initiatives are significant. They will involve fundamental changes to how we operate our business but they are necessary. Together with senior executive and editorial appointments announced recently, they will enable us to be more effective in driving further success in the growth areas News Corp is excelling in such as digital advertising products, solutions and subscriptions and will embed a more collaborative way of working to maximise our sport and news coverage, hyper local digital subscriptions and the success of our all-important weekend editions.” 

Today’s announcements to News Corp’s publishing portfolio will mean some job roles will change and regretfully, will lead to job losses. Mr Miller said that for those employees impacted by the changes, he wanted to thank them personally for their professionalism, dedication and contribution. 

“They have provided News with invaluable years of service. Their passionate commitment to the communities in which they live and work and their role in ensuring these have been informed and served by trusted local media has been substantial,” he said. 

Commercially, these portfolio changes will make News less complex for its partners to leverage and will build on the innovations it already has in place. 

This includes: 

• News Xtend which is now Australia’s top digital marketing agency for small and medium enterprises; 
• News Connect data platform which ensures businesses reach the right consumer segments wanting to pay for their products and services through its specialist ability to access two billion consumption signals from 12 million Australians; 
• Australia’s number one digital publisher for news, real estate, business, sport and fantasy sport, food, fashion, health and beauty, parenting and women’s lifestyle; 
• Digital powerhouse news.com.au which has increased its audience more than 30 per cent in the past two months to more than 12.2 million monthly users; 
• A leader in audio and video with News’ data now showing award-winning podcast downloads of more than five million monthly and digital video views topping 100 million monthly, up 45 per cent in a year; 
• Monday’s launch of BINGE entertainment streaming service which joins Foxtel and the Kayo sport streaming service as the nation’s premium subscription broadcasters; 
• REA Group which is Australia’s clear leader for real estate digital services and investing in Asia and the United States, through its 20 per cent stake in Move, Inc. 

In conclusion, Mr Miller said: “News Corp remains committed to Australia’s regions and communities and the initiatives we are implementing today represent a detailed, considered strategy to ensure we will better serve our journalism to Australians who live outside its major cities. 

“News Corp and its employees also will retain at their creative core their passion for championing, and advocating for an ever improving Australia. As our country emerges in coming weeks from the lockdown enforced on us by the threat of COVID-19 into a ‘new normal’, we will ensure these values that separate News Corp from other media companies are even stronger than ever.” 

Consequently, News Corp Australia is announcing today that: 

Our major regional titles – The Hobart Mercury, NT News, Cairns Post, Townsville Bulletin, Gold Coast Bulletin, Toowoomba Chronicle and Geelong Advertiser – will continue to publish both in print and digitally. 

The following regional titles will become digital only: Queensland – Mackay Daily Mercury, Rockhampton Morning Bulletin, Gladstone Observer, Bundaberg News Mail, Fraser Coast Chronicle, Gympie Times, Sunshine Coast Daily, Queensland Times, Warwick Daily News, Central and North Burnett Times, Central Queensland News, Chinchilla News, Dalby Herald. Gatton Star, Noosa News, South Burnett Times, Stanthorpe Border Post, Western Star, Western Times, Whitsunday Times, Whitsunday Coast Guardian and Bowen Independent, news from the towns covered by the Atherton Tablelander, Northern Miner, Post Douglas & Mossman Gazette and Burdekin Advocate will continue to appear, as it does currently, under the regional sections of the Cairns Post and Townsville Bulletin; 
NSW – Tweed Daily News, Ballina Advocate, Byron Shire News, Coffs Coast Advocate, Grafton Daily Examiner and Lismore Northern Star; Northern Territory – The Centralian Advocate. 

The bulk of titles in our community groups – NewsLocal in NSW/ACT, Leader in Melbourne, Quest in Brisbane and Messenger in Adelaide – will become digital only. Community print editions were suspended early in April because of the impact of COVID-19 restrictions. 

The community titles to be digital-only news services are: Melbourne Leader titles – Stonnington, Mornington Peninsula, Knox, Whitehorse, Monash, Northern, Whittlesea, Maroondah, Moorabbin, Mordialloc Chelsea, Moreland, Lilydale and Yarra Valley, Frankston, Bayside, Caulfield Port Phillip, Cranbourne, Greater Dandenong, Moonee Valley, Maribyrnong, Wyndham; 

NewsLocal in NSW and ACT – Fairfield Advance, Penrith Press, Macarthur Chronicle, Blacktown Advocate, Canterbury Bankstown Express, Central Coast Express, Hills Shire Times, Hornsby Advocate, Liverpool Leader, Manly Daily, Northern District Times, Parramatta Advertiser, Inner West Courier, Southern Courier, Illawarra Star, Wagga Wagga News, St George Shire Standard, Canberra Star, Newcastle News, Blue Mountains News, Central Sydney, South Coast News; 

Quest in Queensland – Albert and Logan News, Caboolture Herald, Westside News, Pine Rivers Press, Redcliffe and Bayside Herald, South-West News, Wynnum Herald, North Lakes Times, Redlands Community News, Springfield News; 

Messenger in SA – Messenger South Plus; Messenger East Plus, Messenger North, Messenger West, Messenger City, Adelaide Hills and Upper Spencer Gulf. 

Three Sydney community titles, Wentworth Courier, Mosman Daily and North Shore Times, which are distributed in the city’s most affluent suburbs, will resume print editions. 

Some small print newspapers will cease publication, but the local journalism coverage of their area will continue, feeding into the digital masthead for their regional community. The regional titles to cease publication are: Queensland – Buderim Chronicle, Caloundra Weekly, Capricorn Coast Mirror, Coolum News, Nambour Weekly, Ipswich Advertiser, Kawana/Maroochy Weekly, Gold Coast Sun, Hervey Bay Independent, Maryborough Herald, Balonne Beacon, Surat Basin News, Herbert River Express, Innisfail Advocate, Central Telegraph; NSW – Coastal Views, Northern Rivers Echo, Richmond River Express Examiner; Tasmania – Tasmanian Country; Specialist – Big Rigs, Rural Weekly, Seniors. 

Additionally, we will streamline our community titles and will publish local stories under their regional or city-based masthead. The community titles which will cease publication are: Leader titles in Victoria – Manningham, Preston, Diamond Valley, Heidelberg, Sunbury Macedon, Progress and Northcote; NewsLocal in NSW – Rouse Hill Times; Quest in Queensland – Northside Chronicle/Bayside Star, North-West News, South-East Advertiser, Southern Star, Bribie Weekly; and South Australia – Messenger Coast Plus. [my yellow highlighting]

Australian Community Media temporarily folds up to 150 of its local & rural print mastheads during pandemic

THEN

AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY MEDIA*:

ACM is made up of more than 170 leading rural and regional newspapers and community-based websites.

It's bolstered by the representation of over 100 independent titles. Combined they serve millions of people in every state and territory across Australia.

We are a modern, consolidated rural and regional media network. By implementing new technologies our newspapers and websites are better than they’ve ever been.

Our team is energetic, creative, collaborative and committed to ensuring we meet the changing needs of our audiences and advertisers. Every day we create and publish compelling content, both online and in print.

At ACM we are passionate about delivering smart solutions and exceptional results for our customers.

Our business may be diverse but we are united when it comes to our vision and values. We pride ourselves on our team culture, which is built on four guiding principles: Community, Audience & Customers, Results and caring for Each Other (which we refer to as CARE).

NOW

The Canberra Times, 14 April 2020:

Media company ACM says printing operations at four press facilities and the production of a number of non-daily newspapers will be suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic and employees associated with the print sites and products stood down until the end of June.

The printed editions of ACM's 14 daily newspapers, such as The Canberra Times, Newcastle Herald and The Border Mail, are not affected and will continue to be available, along with the weekly editions of the company's leading agricultural publications, such as The Land in NSW, Farm Weekly in Western Australia and Queensland Country Life.

In a message emailed to staff on Tuesday, ACM executive chairman Antony Catalano said the company had been "working tirelessly to try to maintain a full level of services and meet the needs of our team members, customers and the community".

But the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on the economy had "affected significantly" ACM's revenue from advertising and external printing contracts.

"For reasons beyond our control, we cannot sustain the same level of useful work or costs moving forward," Mr Catalano said.

"Accordingly, we have no choice but to temporarily cease some of our publications and temporarily close our printing sites in Canberra, Murray Bridge, Wodonga and Tamworth from April 20 until June 29.

"Regrettably, this means that for some of our employees across the business there will be no useful work available, and they will be stood down from work in accordance with the provisions of the Fair Work Act."

Some other employees would be asked to reduce their hours "where there remains some limited useful work that can be performed" while company executives had already agreed to voluntary pay cuts.

Mr Catalano said ACM was "closely assessing our eligibility for the government's JobKeeper payment and intends to register as soon as we are eligible to do so".

Which non-daily titles will temporarily cease publishing and how many employees are affected has not been disclosed as managers begin to brief teams and consult with individuals.

In his note to staff, Mr Catalano said COVID-19 was "affecting all our communities".

"We are aware that this is a very challenging time and every person across the business is being impacted," he said

"At this stage it is not possible to say when we will be able to resume normal operations. We are closely monitoring developments and will keep employees updated as things change."

While operations at ACM's printing facilities at Canberra, Wodonga on the NSW-Victorian border, Tamworth in NSW and Murray Bridge in South Australia will be halted from Monday, continuing printing work - such as of daily newspapers - will be redirected to other press sites.

Limited news coverage will continue on websites of publications affected by the temporary shutdown.

Large numbers of ACM staff have been working from home since early March as part of a company-wide response to official government directives on social distancing.

In recent days, ACM has given notice to the landlords of more than 30 small offices around the country that it intends to exit lease arrangements to reduce rental costs across the business.

ACM's 14 daily newspapers are The Canberra Times, Newcastle Herald, Illawarra Mercury, Northern Daily Leader, Central Western Daily, Western Advocate, Dubbo Daily Liberal, Wagga Daily Advertiser, The Border Mail, Bendigo Advertiser, The Courier, The Standard, The Examiner and The Advocate.

ACM's state-based agricultural weeklies are The Land, Victoria's Stock & Land, Queensland Country Life and the North Queensland Register, Western Australia's Farm Weekly and South Australia's Stock Journal.

Note

* Since May 2019 Australian Community Media (ACM) has been a  trading name of Rural Press Pty Limited. ACM appears to be temporarilily closing an est. 150 local/regional newspaper and magazine titles.