Fairfax MMP closes seven suburban newspapers in Melbourne
Fairfax’s Metro Media Publishing is set to close seven newspapers servicing Melbourne’s south-eastern suburbs.
In a statement issued this afternoon the company announced it will close the Knox Weekly, Monash Weekly, Casey Weekly Cranbourne, Casey Weekly Berwick-Pakenham, Maroondah Weekly, Peninsula Weekly and Frankston Weekly, as of the week beginning June 17, 2013.
“We took control of these businesses following our merger with Fairfax. We knew they were incurring significant losses, and we have done a good job in reducing those losses,” said Antony Catalano CEO & Publisher of MMP.
“However, the seven titles were unable to capture a large enough volume of retail or real estate advertising to be commercially viable.” MMP said it would continue to publish the Dandenong Journal, the oldest community newspaper in Victoria and would continue to invest in the publication.
“Throughout MMP’s three-year history, we have demonstrated an ability to create and grow the leading publication in each market in which we operate.
The merger with Fairfax brought with it a large number of market leading publications, including the Dandenong Journal, and they continue to trade strongly.”
“It is our intention to focus our energies on those market-leading publications to deliver better quality and value to readers and advertisers.”
Nic Christensen
These losses will leave holes in the communities that can be filled by eager people who both live in and love their community. Micro-local papers can survive where ‘chain-store’ locals fail. Having run them myself for years I know.
Local news coverage is a necessity.
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This Fairfax MMP deal is looking very soggy.
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Nothing at Fairfax should surprise as it slowly deletes its self
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