Australian Community Media (ACM) is preparing to sell up to seven mastheads as the newspaper business is dealing with rising print costs and a decline in the advertising market, The Sydney Morning Herald has reported.
In an email to staff seen by the SMH, ACM Managing Director Tony Kendall said the business was in the process of selling seven titles in the NSW central-west and south-west regions.
Papers in the region include The Forbes Advocate, Parkes Champion-Post, The Grenfell Record, Cowra Guardian, Boorowa News, Canowindra News and The Young Witness.
Kendall also told staff he planned to shut down Queensland community titles the Jimboomba Times and Redlands City Bulletin and four Western Australian titles.
ACM was bought by Antony Catalano, with the backing of billionaire Alex Waislitz, in 2018 for $115 million. It publishes titles such as The Canberra Times, The Newcastle Herald and The Land, and today runs about 100 publications.
The initial sale involved 170 newspaper titles and a large amount of property in regional and capital cities. The company has reduced its property portfolio from 26 print plants and buildings across the country to just six.
The most recent closures, which will be completed by April 30, come after increased financial pressure for regional media companies, which struggle to create an income from advertisers and subscribers.
ACM was bailed out by the previous federal government to the tune of $10.3 million due to their difficulties during COVID-19. In October 2022, the Federal Government also provided a $15 million lifeline for over 200 regional and local independent newspaper publishers across the country.
Mr Catalano said the decision to sell some of the ACM mastheads comes thanks to a “significant drop” in government spend.
“Regrettably some smaller publications were at best break even before we bought the business, and the reality of an 80 percent increase in paper costs and a significant drop in government spend made them completely unsustainable in print form,” Mr Catalano told the SMH.
Source: The Sydney Morning Herald, beagleweekly
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