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Farmers the focus of The Weekly Times push to become online destination for rural readers

News Corp aims to make The Weekly Times a national platform

‘Rural news, fresh daily’: News Corp push to make The Weekly Times a national platform

News Corp has upped the ante in the battle for readers in Australia’s rural heartland, developing The Weekly Times as a national digital platform.

Backed by the new campaign, the move to develop the paper, which is distributed in regional Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland as the national online voice for farmers, will take on Fairfax Rural Media and The Land, Farm Weekly in WA, Stock Journal in South Australia and Queensland Country Life.

The campaign has been dubbed ‘128k’ after the 128,000 Australian farmers who work for, feed and clothe 60m people in Australia and overseas, and runs with the tagline: ‘Rural news, fresh daily’.

It features farmers from NSW, Victoria and Queensland emphasising their contribution the Australian community by highlighting their jobs as “the most important of all”.

The Weekly Times Editor, Ed Gannon, told Mumbrella the development of the paper as a national force beyond the distance ” a truck can drive” was a natural progression.

“We have our traditional print footprint in Victoria and Southern NSW, and nowadays with a digital offer there is no way we have to be bound by boundaries,” Gannon said.

“It’s a view to say to people ‘look, we cover a lot of issues which are national issues – here we are, have a look at us and see if you like us or not. People might see it as us heading into Fairfax territory, but that is not the main game.”

Gannon described the move as ” a growth story for us”.

“Part of the motivation (for the campaign) is they haven’t had access before.” He said that the nature of The Weekly Times meant that the issues it covered were of interest to rural and regional readers across the country, from the grain belts in Western Australia to producers in North Queensland.

“The time is right to spread our wings and see what we can do.”

The Weekly Times editor Peter Clark

Clark: “The Weekly Times has a unique opportunity to spread its wings and build a national audience”

Peter Clark, The Herald and Weekly Times executive general manager, said the launch of The Weekly Times as a national voice would build on recent circulation growth.

“The Weekly Times has experienced print circulation and digital readership growth over the past 12 months and now has a unique opportunity to spread its wings and build a national audience, Clark said.

The move is also aimed at giving national advertisers a single platform on which to converse with rural and regional Australia.

Created by Redhanded Communications Group in Melbourne, the campaign features spectacular shots of Australia’s rural landscape.

The campaign will run through digital, Facebook and TV, while a second phase will profile framers and drive engagement.

The Weekly Times claims 156,000 readers each week and 187,000 website visitors each month.

Simon Canning

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