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Fairfax takes top PANPA prize, but News, Asians and others also star
Tightly-contested categories for this year’s PANPA Newspaper of the Year awards saw the Fairfax metropolitan daily ‘Sydney Morning Herald’ beat News Limited stablemates ‘The Australian’, Melbourne’s ‘Herald Sun’ and Sydney ‘Daily Telegraph’ in the top daily circulation category.
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Capital idea: Canberra's culture of quality
There’s a culture of quality about Fairfax Media’s Canberra print site, Capital Fine Print, which is perhaps encapsulated in the fact they still refer to the 14-year-old manroland Geoman there as ‘the new press’.
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PANPA awards finalists: 'Best ever'
Finalists have been named for this year’s NPA/PANPA Newspaper of the Year awards, due to be presented at a gala dinner in Sydney on August 26.
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APN’s Angelo outshines NZ star apprentices
Two newspaper printing apprentices – Angelo Gedult of APN Print Ellerslie (Auckland) and Rebecca Fraser of Otago Daily Times Print (Alexandra) – were among finalists in the PrintNZ Apprentice of the Year awards, with Gedult taking the top prize.
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QuadTech upgrades regionals
Regional newspaper publishers in Victoria and South Australia have been catching up with the benefits of automatic register control, with QuadTech taking four orders for its Register Guidance System with Multicam in the last 18 months.
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Plenty to smile about in powered-up Tumut
There’s a nice irony that in Tumut, in the heartlands of the Snowy Mountains Hydro Electric Scheme, Luke Watson is still waiting for a power supply sufficient to run the whole of his newly-extended press (writes Peter Coleman).
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'Better judging' promise, as PANPA awards entries open
Following criticism of last year’s awards, Australia’s Newspaper Publishers Association says it is working to improve judging standards for its top PANPA Newspaper of the Year competition. But chief executive Mark Hollands says qualified judges, “don’t exactly grow on trees”.
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Single-width and song in country music’s ‘capital’
After a conference programme full of fact-packed presentations, Australia’s Single Width Users Group rounded off its first day with celebrations and – appropriately for its Tamworth, NSW, location – country music.
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Streamline adds extra platesetter
Melbourne-based contract newspaper printer Streamline Press has installed an extra Agfa platesetter, increasing up to 45 of the Goss Community-size plates hour.
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Double-digit ambitions as the ‘Oz’ gets autonomy and Freudenstein as boss
There’s more than musical chairs and career advancement to a string of appointments announced by News Limited chairman and chief executive John Hartigan today. Notably, the evolution of flagship national ‘The Australian’ gets a boost with the creation of a new role for Richard Freudenstein as the paper’s chief executive.
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Another SA regional goes 'CF' CTP
Agfa has scored another regional South Australian chemistry-free installation, helping Renmark’s ‘Murray Pioneer’ to run N92-VCF plates on its existing system.
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Insights into Fairfax's online-only websites... but no $$$ figures
A seven hour plane journey wasn't distance enough for Fairfax Media's Mike van Nierkerk to feel comfortable a out putting dollars on the extent of his company's advertising sales success at brisbanetimes.com.au.
"Rupert Murdoch might be sitting out there," he told a questioner at WAN-Ifra's Online Media Asia conference in Singapore today (writes Peter Coleman).
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'Droz' takes the reigns at DS Chemport
DS Chemport (Australia) chief executive Graham McKenzie has retired after almost ten years at the company. He hands the reigns to Peter Drozdowicz, former chief financial officer.
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Goss busy with Australian press productivity projects
With eight engineers in the region dedicated to maintenance, service and enhancements, Goss International says several Australian commercial and newspaper printers have completed significant projects recently to improve the productivity of their presses.
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Renamed NPA gets a sharp new look
The new identity for the renamed PANPA – now Newspaper Publishers’ Association – has been unvelined with the organisation’s latest newsletter.
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PANPA awards: SMH is 'best' ... and so are newly-equipped print sites
Top award in last night’s PANPA Newspaper of the Year awards went to the ‘Sydney Morning Herald’, described as an example of “what successful newspapers represent –informed and comprehensive journalism that connected with its community through its marketing, community affairs and technology.
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'Back to source' as manroland returns Dunwell to newspapers
The last couple of months have been a period of intense activity for manroland in Australia, setting up the new organisation which succeeds its long standing agency arrangements and augments the 18-month-old MWSA web service operation, writes Peter Coleman.
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PANPA finalists: New kit could be key to an award
Investment in state-of-the art presses may deliver a return for publishers in Australia and New Zealand in the PANPA Newspaper of the Year awards for technical excellence, finalists for which were announced today.
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Fujifilm’s CTP salesman books his ‘still moments’
When he’s not selling CTP systems or chemistry-free plates to newspaper users, there’s another side to Fujifilm Australia’s Warren Hinder … his ‘still moments’. Indeed that’s the title of his new book and an exhibition of landscape photographs being launched in Katoomba next weekend by federal MP Bob Debus.
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Ten years of tracking newspaper history
The Australian Newspaper History Group is approaching its tenth anniversary in October with plans for a special newsletter recording the way in which newspapers have changed during the period… and where they may be after another decade.
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Dunwell takes top job at manroland Australasia
Steve Dunwell has been appointed managing director of manroland Australasia, effective from next month. Best known for the Media Tech newspaper and prepress systems distribution business he built with Michael Joel before the merger of one of its major agencies into CreoScitex - now part of Kodak - he has spent the last six years as Sydney-based NSW manager of the Currie Group.
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Gen X gets heard at PANPA's one-day summit event
Two Generation X newspaper executives will be among speakers at PANPA’s one-day ‘Newspapers: The Future Forum’ in Sydney on September 10. Free to members, the event is sponsored by Norske Skog, and will be followed by the Newspaper of the Year gala presentation dinner.
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Balding to keynote PANPA's one-day 'Future Forum'
Registration is now open for PANPA's one-day event charting the future of newspapers. Programme for 'The Future Forum' – to be held in Sydney on September 10 – includes international and local speakers including chief executive of the World Association of Newspapers, Tim Balding.
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Yaffa's Gunn at the head of publishing thinking
Halfway through a 35-magazine rollout, production director at Sydney’s Yaffa Publishing Group Matthew Gunn was among those taking time out for the WoodWing publishing conference in Athens last month.
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'Best of the best' NPA awards are shared around
Web printing awards were evenly shared in this year’s Australian NPA competition, the first held in a new ‘best of the best’ format. Finalists came from the winners of regional awards including the Printing Industry Craftsmanship Awards held by state Printing Industries associations.
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Baldwin stand becomes PacPrint's hot spot for a day
Lunch hour was rush hour at Baldwin’s stand at the Australian PacPrint09 printing trade show yesterday, when the passing scene included teams from two of the publishing industry’s highest-profile companies.
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PacPrint optimism reinforced by a Norman conquest
After an uncertain start on Tuesday, Australia’s PacPrint09 printing trade show got on song today with sales announcements, the optimistic comments of a few overseas principals … and a huge boost from the economic assessments of Professor Neville Norman, wites Peter Coleman.
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PANPA's three-day conference becomes a one-day event
PANPA’s annual conference has fallen victim to economic uncertainty, the traditional three-day event replaced this year by a free ‘one-day summit’, the climax of which will be the gala newspaper of the year presentation dinner.
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Guitar town kicks on with all-colour press
A clever aggregation of newspaper plant from a handful of Fairfax group sites has given the ‘Northern Daily Leader’ and associated titles in the ‘country music capital’ of Tamworth improved quality and capacity for 48 pages of back-to-back colour.
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News launches 3D Papermotion technology in Sydney and Melbourne
News Limited is using a new Papermotion technology to add an extra dimension to print.
The interactive technology works with a computer and webcam, allowing specially-printed content to be activated. Consumers visit a purpose-built website and hold the newspaper up in front of the webcam on their computer. Displays of 3D animation, video clips, music, mini-sites and games can then be triggered.
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Wish list scores in PANPA's ad awards
It was the proposal the ad sales team wish the client had bought …but he didn’t: The open final category in PANPA’s 2009 Advertising Awards with the simple title, ‘We Wish’ epitomised the state (and enthusiasm) of the industry in difficult times.
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For one day only: Fairfax tab teases Brisbane and Perth readers
David Kirk said it wouldn’t happen … but then David Kirk is now history at Fairfax: Today Fairfax Media (chief executive Brian McCarthy) put pilot print editions from its Brisbane and Perth website content into the hands of thousands of commuters and city workers.
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NZ next as Fairfax gives Lockley group print responsibility
Changes which were being whispered about at the weekend Single Width Users Group conference in Albury, NSW, were confirmed today when the association’s president, Bob Lockley was handed responsibility for all of Fairfax Media’s printing and logistics activities.
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Smooth change as DIC gears up
There’s a change at the top of DIC Australia ... but the strategy is that performance of the company through the transition should replicate that of the inks it makes: Smooth and consistent, writes Peter Coleman.
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Age trial gives recycled a run
After running the imported 100 per cent recycled stock at their Rural Press sites for a number of years, Fairfax Media has completed a successful trial of Oceanic Paper’s PT Aspex newsprint at The Age Print Centre in Tullamarine, Victoria.
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Fairfax calls halt to share trading
With its share price a 93 cents – a fifth of its 2007 high – trading in Fairfax Media shares has been halted while the company considers raising additional capital.
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PMP shuts SA, Qld web presses
Catalogue and magazine printer PMP is shutting its heatset plant in Salisbury South, South Australia, and decommissioning a manroland Rotoman 8 press at Wacol in Queensland, as part of process to improve its underperforming print business.
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Evans reign at PMP ends 'by mutual agreement'
Not much more than three months after signing on for another three years, Brian Evans is leaving his role as chief executive of heatset web printer PMP “by mutual agreement” … and with an expected $2 million payout.
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Top web jobs vie for gold
The yearly round of Printing Industries sponsored awards comes to an end this month with the Queensland PICAs on November 28. Under new arrangements, gold winners are automatically entered for the National Print Awards, announced next May.
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Been there, done that: Rupert on life after banks
With his Chinese-born wife and two young daughters, you’d reckon Rupert Murdoch (77) would know a thing or two about staying fit and young-at-heart. And on the corporate crisis front, he’s been there before.
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The tough get going
When the going gets tough, opportunities occur... and the present economic situation is already showing the value of being prepared, writes Peter Coleman.
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David Kirk leaves Fairfax amid reports of 'power struggle'
David Kirk has resigned from his role as chief executive of Fairfax Media amid reports of a power struggle between him and his deputy, Brian McCarthy. The announcement which was effective immediately, will see McCarthy act as interim chief executive until the board meets on December 10.
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Mulligan, Martin take top GAMAA posts
Böttcher Australia managing director Mitch Mulligan has been appointed president of the Graphic Arts Merchants Association of Australia, succeeding Alastair Hadley. Ian Martin becomes vice president. Both appointments are for a two-year term.
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First new Aussie UV site set for January start
East Victorian independent the ‘Bairnsdale Advertiser’ is set to be Australia’s first of a new generation of single-width UV newspapers as a project to upgrade the existing Goss Community there reaches fruition.
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Magazine publishers take 3DAP to ISO proofing standard
Australia’s 3DAP committee will release Version 3 (v3) of their proofing standards early next year. The committee has adopted the Australian version of the ISO 12647-2 standard and will incorporate the ISO 12647-7 tolerances for proofing quality control.
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Müller Martini managing director Livio Barbagello with the Primera E140 |
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Müller Martini has open day stitched up
After the success of its tenth anniversary celebration last year, Müller Martini opened the doors of its showroom in the Sydney suburb of Silverwater for a second open day.
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Scandrett pitches Web Leader's UV against heatset in Australia and NZ
Charlie Scandrett, whose Pressnet company has been appointed Australia and New Zealand agents for US-made Web Leader presses, sees the combination of UV with the maker’s compact Quad-Stack colour tower as a “great opportunity” for regional and independent newspaper publishers.
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'Herald-Sun' PANPA's newspaper of the year
Melbourne’s tabloid daily and Sunday newspapers, News Limited’s the ‘Herald-Sun’ and ‘Sunday Herald-Sun’ have confirmed their leading positions by taking this year’s PANPA ‘Newspaper of the Year’ awards.
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PANPA's first day puts delegates in fear
A 'mock court' scenario in which "the guilty are punished and the innocent nervous" was a talking point of the first-day workshops of the PANPA08 conference on Queensland's Gold Coast.
Peter Coleman |
PANPA technical nominations announced
Finalists in the technical categories of this year’s PANPA ‘newspaper of the year’ awards have been announced, prior to the awards dinner o September 10.
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Tighter print business boosts Fairfax profit
Fairfax Media boosted profit from its Australian printing operations through a cut in costs of almost ten per cent in the face of a one per cent drop in revenue, results released with the annual report show.
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News scores 12 hot days in August
News Digital Media says it scored almost 1.8 million hits and 16 million page impressions for its Beijing 2008 Olympics website, BeijingNow between November 8-20.
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80-pp Sunday fires up at AIW
The new gapless 80-page Goss Sunday press at AIW Printing is up and running making the Melbourne commercial web printer the fourth-largest heatset in Australia and New Zealand.
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News details Townsville press and mailroom upgrade
A new five-tower manroland Geoman press and expanded ferag mailroom at News Limited’s ‘Townsville Bulletin’ will bring extra capacity colour capacity and ‘value-ad’ capability to the paper and northern editions of ‘The Australian’ and the Brisbane ‘Courier-Mail’.
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WOCG speakers in Australia/NZ seminars
A team of international speakers from the Web Offset Champions Group will address ‘best practice’ issues in optimising web-offset at a series of seminars in Australia and New Zealand in August.
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WOCG Auckland seminar date
A team of international speakers from the Web Offset Champions Group will address ‘best practice’ issues in optimising web-offset at a seminar in Auckland in August.
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Hobart upgrade spells death in Burnie
As News Limited upgrades its Tasmanian print capacity, it is expected that presses at Fairfax Media’s Burnie print site will be looking for a new home following the reported relocation of production to Launceston.
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The ‘sheer agony of putting out the paper'
Rod Kirkpatrick’s new book on country newspaper history – ‘Purposely Parochial: 100 Years of the Country Press in Queensland’ – is the second product from three decades of research.
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technotrans opens new office
Press peripherals maker technotrans technologies has officially opened its Australian offices with Graham Castley, technical sales manager, heading up a new Melbourne-based operation backed up by service engineer Paul Duncan.
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Currie gets HP's wideformat inkjets
Hewlett Packard has added the Designjet large format printers used in some proofing applications to the portfolio of Australian agent the Currie Group, which already handles Indigo digital printing. HP previewed a high-volume inkjet web system for newspaper printing at DRUPA.
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Expanded Frontline takes Kodak prepress
Kodak has unloaded New Zealand prepress and workflow sales and support to Frontline Technologies – now part of Aarque Graphics – naming the company its key distributor.
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Narrow broadsheets still on the agenda
David Kirk has told journalists in May what GXpress readers already know ... that narrower broadsheets for ‘The Age’ and the ‘Sydney Morning Herald’ aren’t off the agenda, just harder than the Fairfax Media chief executive had thought.
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Millions for an online share of WA
As anticipated, Western Australia got a new Fairfax website – WAtoday.com.au – on June 10, expanding the franchise established with March 2007’s brisbanetimes.com.au.
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New press and more to celebrate in Toowoomba
Floods and industry challenges apart, there was a special sense of achievement when APN opened a new print centre for Toowoomba’s ‘Chronicle’ in June: Following a buyout of APN’s partner last year, the darling of Queensland’s Darling Downs is now a fully-owned subsidiary.
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SWUG moves to a less-mad March
After getting close to announcing a date which clashed with Australian sport’s holiest days – the weekend of the AFL grand final and NRL premiership final – the Single Width Users Group conference has been moved to a new regular slot in March.
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Stephens sets up agency business
Former newspaper systems sales manager with Goss Graphic Systems Australasia Andy Stephens has left the company to form his own agency business.
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