Australia's Country Press associations will have the questionable benefit of regaining their traditional independence with the withdrawal of 133 Fairfax Media titles from membership.

But the idea - represented by former publisher and former president of both CPNSW and CPA John Dunnet in a history newsletter - that he might outlive the association of which he is a life member, seems premature.

Executive director Bruce Morgan says the Country Press Association is far from winding down: "We see this as an opportunity to bring the state organisations closer together and giving remaining NSW independents a pathway for support and engagement."

For Fairfax, however, it seems the association - which allowed it to join after a rush of country newspaper acquisitions in the 1990s - has served its purpose. A spokesperson told GXpress: "We believe that our interests in regional and rural publishing are better served on the whole through existing company representation.

"We will continue to cooperate and support industry initiatives where it makes sense - unfortunately we do not believe membership in the Country Press Association has any meaningful role to play."

In New South Wales, some 14 independents will be all that remains of a state association that once encompassed more than 150 titles, while in South Australia, the Fairfax withdrawal has made it an easy decision for CPSA to close a little-used office, administration manager Trevor Auliffe mostly working from his home. There have also been talks with the state affiliate in Queensland, where News Corp Australia recently acquired APN News & Media's Australian regional media business.

Each Australian state has its own association, traditionally of independently-owned newspapers, but a wave of acquisitions in the 1990s led to the number of independents being decimated - especially in New South Wales, where CPNSW later sold its advertising clearing house to Neville Jeffress Advertising - and membership being extended to groups such as Fairfax.

With fewer proprietors in the state selling out, the Victorian CPA became the largest of the associations, and took over administration of the national body.

Former managing director of the Narribri Courier John Dunnet - who is a former president of both CPNSW and CPA - says Fairfax has been seeking for some time to find ways of cutting the costs of membership of both state and federal bodies. While the associations have "bent over backwards", he says Fairfax has previously found it useful to belong to bodies of identifiably smaller publications because of the realities of award negotiations, "although with award modernisation, that requirement has faded".

Dunnet says that while a great many managers, and editors and senior journalists who have served Fairfax "in the bush" have been great supporters of what he calls the "country press ethos", it has been evident in recent years that the group country press model "with its stresses and ironbound budgetary demands" has not been fruitful.

Members of his own family continue the Narribri Courier, which he says "continues to perform well as a traditional country paper. "It covers local news and events in detail, including sport and social matters, and it maintains the traditional conceit of the fourth estate to warn, encourage, praise and advise.

"On publication days the paper's readers may be found waiting at their front gates for the paperboy/girl."

As a member of a family whose involvement in country newspapers bridges three centuries, he says he has have watched "with dismay" the apparent decline and fall of traditional print vehicles over the past decade, "and the decision by Fairfax bean-counters seemed just another blow".

He joins Bruce Morgan in believing that there is still a place "in this world of digital immediacy" for local papers that identify and respond to the contemporary wishes of those who inhabit their circulation area".

Dunnet says the "corporate misadventures of the Fairfax group and its frenetic attempts to cut and contain costs" may actually cloud the picture about the health and potential of local country newspapers in the new digital, 24/7 online world.

"While the corporate experience of running group networks of newspapers may have been unhappy in recent years there is evidence to suggest that it is still possible to produce and circulate successful, appealing newspapers on a profitable basis.

"American academic research into the phenomenon of 'community newspaper deprivation' has shown that the failure of some larger local papers in the US has created social discomfort in affected communities. It seems people soon miss their local, council, social and sporting news and easy access to information about events and happenings - and local advertising.

"America's shrewdest businessman, Warren Buffett has apparently recognised that the local newspaper model still has an upside when it comes to delivering profitable outcomes and he has been buying titles. Unwittingly perhaps, the antics and doings of President Trump seem to have sparked a renewed widespread interest in print journalism which prides itself on accuracy and depth in news reporting."

He believes Country Press Australia will continue, "but how state association structures may change remains to be seen.

"I remain optimistic that the number of local, independently-owned country titles will rise again. Indeed, across Australia new community newspapers are continuing to spring up, enough to suggest that the confidence of traditional country press associations to rebuild membership numbers is well placed."

The withdrawal of the 133 Fairfax papers leaves CPA with 104 members: "I seem to recall the days when the number was 350," Dunnet says.

Morgan remains bullish about independent community and country newspapers generally, and adds, "who knows what will happen if/when Fairfax finally breaks up."

Peter Coleman

Pictured: Country ride - At the suggestion of then-president Bob Yeates, the Victorian Country Press Association team dressed up to an airline theme to take state government agency staff on a bus tour of newspapers in 2011 (picture VCPA)