DIGITAL FUTURE
Titles preparing to go digital only
REGIONAL newspapers are the latest victim of the coronavirus pandemic, with News Corp, the publisher of this newspaper, making the decision yesterday to close many of its print editions in favour of more digitally-focused newsrooms.
The Townsville Bulletin is one of a handful of regional papers that will remain, but sadly our community papers will cease to be published.
Editor of the Bulletin Craig Warhurst said while it was a sad day for many of his colleagues, he and his team were committed to delivering the news that matter most in the North.
“Yesterday was one of the most difficult days in memory but I want our readers here in Townsville and the surrounding regions to know that we are right behind them and will work harder than ever to hold those in power to account and fight for what’s best for our region.”
NEWS Corp Australia has announced significant changes to its Australian media titles that will result in many of its Queensland and NSW mastheads becoming digital-only publications.
The move means the Bowen Independent, Burdekin Advocate, Northern Miner and Herbert River Express will no longer produce print editions.
Townsville Bulletin editor Craig Warhurst said it was a sad day for those communities.
“The mastheads have served the regions well, being the voice of the people,” Mr Warhurst said.
“Unfortunately the gradual demise of print and the drop in advertising due to COVID-19 has left the titles unviable.”
Mr Warhurst said the silver lining in the bad news was that journalists would be retained in each town.
“They will be charged with continuing to give the regions a voice,” Mr Warhurst said.
The Bulletin will run those stories in a special regional section of the paper each day and the stories and images will have their own home on the Bulletin website.
“It’s not the same as a dedicated paper but we will still give the residents of Ayr, Charters Towers, Ingham and surrounds a paper they can hopefully come to think of as their own.”
The executive chairman of News Corp Australasia, Michael Miller, said 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.
“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,” Mr Miller said.
He said the portfolio changes would mean that from 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,” he 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.”