Surprised that Leader in Berwick, Wyndham and Melton are closing, those regions are among the fastest population growth areas in Australia, surely they can sustain more than one suburban paper. Plus the paper is still needed to cover the issues not reported by the Herald Sun.
Can’t believe a large part of Melbourne’s west will be ignored by News Corp like that.
Has the company considered merging the titles? My suggestions:
Free Press merge with Lilydale and Yarra Valley Leader
Brimbank, Hobsons Bay, Melton and Wyndham Leader merge with Maribyrnong Leader to form a “super suburban” weekly (let’s call it Western Leader)
Berwick merge with Cranbourne Leader
Melbourne Leader to merge with Port Phillip Leader
My area was similar in going from 3 to 1 but it happened years ago. I never really read any of them apart from the occasional Leader edition anyway.
Leader Newspapers has posted a message to readers and advertisers on the website:
Leader has made a business decision to focus on the 26 Leader community mastheads across Melbourne that have the strongest future for commercial success and audience growth.
As a result, Leader has made the difficult decision to close seven Leader mastheads.
Leader publications Wyndham, Hobsons Bay, Melton, Brimbank, Melbourne/Yarra, Berwick and Free Press will cease publication from the end of June.
We thank our readers and advertisers in those communities for your support over many years.
Leader is proud of the community connection that we have worked hard to achieve.
Leader has been a strong advocate for local causes in those areas. We have reported on local news and events and played an active role in community life.
Leader regrets that changing business conditions mean it is no longer commercially possible for us to continue in those seven communities.
We thank you for your support. Our final print publications in those areas will be delivered in the week of June 27.
The Australian’s foreign editor Greg Sheridan has been appointed an officer (AO) in the general division of the Order of Australia in today’s Queen’s Birthday honours list, for distinguished service to print media as a journalist and political commentator on foreign affairs and national security, and to Australia’s bilateral relationships.
Leader has published identical editorials on its Wyndham, Hobsons Bay, Melton, Brimbank, Melbourne/Yarra, Berwick and Free Press titles this week, reconfirming their closures. However, the editorial adds that:
We will endeavour to continue to report digitally on the local news and issues that matter to you, and to be a strong advocate for local causes and community life.
How can Leader achieve both aims, by sacking 5-8 journalists? Will it ask journalists from neighbouring titles to do the job?
News Corp is demonstrating which side it is supporting in the three-way Country Fire Authority wage deal dispute between the Victorian State Government, the United Firefighters Union and the volunteer CFA firefighters*. Tomorrow (Wednesday) Herald Sun is giving away free BACK THE CFA bumper stickers at participating newsagents across Victoria so the public can show their support behind the volunteers.
*the volunteers claimed the enterprise bargaining agreement signed between the State Government and the UFU gave the latter too much power in CFA operation and taking control of the volunteer organisation.
Wow what a surprise the Herald Sun going against the (ALP) government. Who’d have guessed?
(Having said that I should declare I am not on one side or another for this debate as I’ve not followed it at all so perhaps the HS is taking the better side here but given its track record for slagging anything ALP it’s hard to take anything the paper does too objectively)
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^ But not in this blatant fashion. We can all safety guess which side the paper will be supporting in the upcoming federal election.
I thought it was a well known fact that all News Corp tabloids usually always support the Coalition both on a state and federal basis? The Daily Telegraph here in Sydney certainly does anyway, especially remembering those now infamous front pages during the 2013 Federal Election campaign…
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Maybe you’ve forgotten the Herald Sun’s front pages cheering for Tony Abbott ahead of the 2013 federal election? Not to mention just about any other political coverage since then which has continually taken the view that LNP = good, ALP = bad and Greens = worse. Usually illustrated tastefully with cartoon/photoshopped images to make their point.
Not to mention the paper (and its sister papers) recent character slaughter of Duncan Storrer whose only ‘crime’ was to ask a question on Q&A which made the Libs look bad.
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Coles is offering a discount deal on News Corp’s major Victorian papers. Starting yesterday and for the next three weeks, when you spend $30 or more in one transaction in Coles supermarkets across the state you can get half price for the Herald Sun, Sunday Herald Sun, The Australian, The Weekend Australian, the Geelong Advertiser and The Weekly Times.
Why are you spruiking their papers? Are you on commission?
They could give the papers away for free I’d still never buy them.
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I am not spruiking, I think it’s an unfair deal, a gimmick to increase News Corp’s paper sales. It should be The Age and AFR which get the discounts.
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Well, you should have said. It was impossible to figure that out from your post. It looked like you were promoting them.
I’d say NewsCorp cut an attractive deal with Coles to do that. It’s not like Coles is just doing them a favour.
Veteran journalist Ron Reed will retire next Thursday, June 30. Reed worked in newspapers for 52 years, the last 45 years at The Sun News-Pictorial and the Herald Sun, reporting and commenting on so many sporting events at home and abroad, winning numerous awards along the way. He is one of finest sporting journalists in this country. I wish him a happy retirement.
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Mamamia’s national strategy director Georgia Thomas has exited the company after less than a year, joining The Australian as the new head of strategy and partnerships. Lisa Wells, who has been Bauer Media’s head of direct sales for the past two years, has been appointed as the paper’s deputy general manager of sales.
News Corp, a minor shareholder of employment website Careerone, has signed a commercial agreement with long-time rival Seek. From early August, News Corp’s sales teams will offer its customers a Seek Group employment listing with every print ad they book, and News Corp’s digital properties will link to a Seek Group job site.
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You have to wonder how the Herald Sun, The Daily Telegraph, The Advertiser etc. are preparing themselves for a post-Rupert world. I can’t see his children as wanting to be involved to nearly the same extent.
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