A quarter-of-a-century after coated stock was the key weapon in a suburban battle between News' Leader group and former Sydney Morning Herald editor Eric Beecher, more of Melbourne's community papers are going glossy.
As residents become more affluent, 15 of News Corp Australia's Leader Community News suburbans are to get an upgrade to coated paper in what is being billed as the single largest investment in the group's 130-year history.
Six Melbourne titles which are already printed on glossy paper - and some in Sydney including the prime minister's "local" Wentworth Courier - will also get an upgrade to the heavier Ecoprime LWC stock, and 11 will be boosted with a new lifestyle section.
The move is a bonus for IPMG unit Hannanprint, which prints the existing heatset titles as well as News' glossy suburbans in Sydney. National production and logistics director Geoff Booth told GXpress News had no plans to print the glossy titles itself in either centre.
News Corp Australia community publishing managing director Brett Clegg says the magazine quality format and editorial enhancements would still keep Melbourne local news at their core. The new lifestyle section initially being introduced to 11 papers, will include content from parenting site Kidspot.com.au.
Advertisers are promised sharper images and better colour accuracy.
"This investment is a reflection of the increasing affluence of these 15 areas and the exciting future we see in these publications," says Clegg.
"While historic and substantial, the changes at Leader are only a taste of what's to come as we reposition the national portfolio for a more dynamic future that connects to our readers across platforms."
Clegg says he believes community newspapers will continue to keep readers as long as they are smart about their strategy and don't skimp on content.
In Sydney, he says titles such as the Mosman Daily and Wentworth Courier have "arguably the most prestige readership of any publication in Australia".
"If you read the Wenty you are nearly threefold more likely to own a luxury car than the general population," he says. "We haven't really exploited these kinds of advantages before. Local news will always stay at the core of our business model but equally you will see more lifestyle, fashion, food and travel content to enrich the reader experience."
The initiative comes after News closed seven community newspapers, one of a number of changes made since Clegg's promotion to the role last October. He has also been involved in News' acquisition of a majority stake in online marketplace hipages, and peer-to-peer personal lender SocietyOne.
Then publisher of the Wentworth Courier, Eastern Suburbs Newspapers - partly owned by the Hannan family (with Fairfax) - took the newspaper glossy on their own presses in 1985, and saw pagination rise to 368 pages in 1997. Hannan later sold its Sydney suburbans, glossy national magazines and a Noosa lifestyle magazine (later closed) to News.
Melbourne's flirtation with glossy suburban newspapers began with the launch of Beecher's independent Melbourne Weekly in 1992, forcing Progress Press (now part of Leader) to make the same move.