Victorian regional independent Times News Group has brought three NSW locals “back from the dead,” less than two years after arriving in the area with the acquisition of a cluster of Ballina and Byron mastheads.

The Gunnedah Times, Narrabri Courier and Wee Waa News had closed in May, when the closure of ACM’s Tamworth print centre was the last straw for publishers already facing commercial pressures. The Times itself had been launched in 2020 to fill a gap after the Namoi Valley Independent ceased publication.

Times News has been developing a reputation as saviour of troubled newspapers: Managing director Warick Brown says in the past five years, his Surf Coast-based company had already been able to save the McIvor Times in Heathcote (Victoria) – now 163 years old – and the 154-year-old Moorabool News, “both of which would have been local news deserts had we not felt an obligation to try and save them.

“When a local newspaper closes, communities lose far more than a publication. They lose a watchdog, a storyteller, a historical record and one of the few institutions dedicated entirely to covering local issues. We believed these newspapers were too important to lose.”

The Narrabri Courier was first published in 1913 (see GXpress report)

Their acquisition strengthens Times News Group’s NSW network, joining the Byron Coast Times, Ballina Times and Tweed Coast Times – acquired in 2024 – and Lismore Times.

Brown says the newspapers have earned the trust of their communities over many decades: “Our role is not to change what makes them special,” he said. “Our role is to ensure they have a future. People want to read about their towns, their farms, their businesses, their sporting clubs and the issues affecting their communities.

“That’s what local newspapers do best.”

In Victoria, Times News publishes free local news for the Surf Coast, Geelong, Bellarine, and Armstrong Creek; Ballarat, Moorabool, Golden Plains, Bendigo, and Heathcote; and Mount Gambier.

Pictured: Bells Beach on Victoria’s Surf Coast

Pictured: Bells Beach on Victoria’s Surf Coast (2022 photo Surfing Victoria)