As the Catalano-Waislitz owned Australian Community Media continues to shed non-daily regional mastheads, it’s the print-equipped independents which are on the rise.

In December, print-focussed Star News Group – whose interests include a share in a print centre in Rockhampton – was the winner when ACM unloaded 14 South Australia and Queensland mastheads.

And while there were apparently no takers for a cluster of WA weeklies last week, the Higgins family’s Provincial Press Group has emerged as the new owner of seven of ACM’s paid-sale titles in NSW this week.

PPG – which will be rebranded as Regional Media Corp with the added involvement of Narromine Star owners Lucie Peart and Tim Pankhurst – is taking the Parkes Champion-Post, Forbes Advocate, Canowindra News, The Grenfell Record, Cowra Guardian, Boorowa News and Young Witness from ACM, joining North East Media’s existing 16 newspaper and magazine titles including the flagship Wangaratta Chronicle. 

North East Media started when WT Higgins bought the Wangaratta Despatch in 1921 and Wangaratta Chronicle in 1937, and is still owned by the Higgins family, of which Regional Media Corp chief executive Edward Higgins is a fourth-generation member.

Importantly, the company prints its own newspapers – on a three–tower Goss Community augmented by Müller Martini AlphaLiner inserting – along with those of its neighbours.

Based in Wangaratta, Victoria, it has offices in Myrtleford, Mansfield, Euroa and the Melbourne suburb of Hawthorn. The group also publishes to the wine, forests, timber and tourism industries in Adelaide and the New South Wales Snowy Mountains. An online division, NEM Digital was launched in 2018.

Its portfolio of mastheads include the Wangaratta Chronicle, Mansfield Courier, Ovens and Murray Advertiser, Myrtleford Times, Alpine Observer, Euroa Gazette, Southern Farmer, North East & Goulburn Murray Farmer, and North East Living.

In a statement issued through ACM, Higgins said his company was pleased to be the future custodian of the regions’ long-standing newspapers that had served their respective communities for many years.

“We are impressed with the regions’ progressive municipalities and look forward to engaging with all communities covered to deliver an effective local print and digital media service,” he added. “Our aim is to provide strong local news content that reflects each of the communities’ aspirations, and promotes growth and jobs.”

ACM managing director Tony Kendall said his company hadn’t actively looked to sell the NSW titles, but had “engaged with Provincial Press” after there had been enquiries about publications outside its key markets. “We felt the proposed transaction was in the best interest of these publications," he said.

ACM’s regional dailies were not included in the current negotiations.

ACM last week announced it was closing four WA print editions, prompting Ive Group to close the Mandurah print centre it had bought from ACM as part of a $100 million “partnership” in October 2020.

– Peter Coleman

Pictured: ACM spruiks regional editor Andrew Fisher’s Cowra credentials across  the regional group