Australian Community Media (ACM) is a media company in Australia responsible for over 160 regional publications. Its mastheads include the ''

Canberra Times ''The Canberra Times'' is a daily newspaper in Canberra, Australia, which is published by Australian Community Media. It was founded in 1926, and has changed ownership and format several times. History ''The Canberra Times'' was launched in ...

'', ''

Newcastle Herald The ''Newcastle Herald'' (formerly branded as ''The Herald'') is a local tabloid newspaper published daily, Monday to Saturday, in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. It is the only local newspaper that serves the greater Hunter Region and ...

'', '' The Examiner'', ''

The Border Mail ''The Border Mail'' is a daily newspaper and online news brand published in Albury-Wodonga, Australia, serving the twin cities and the surrounding region. It was originally published as ''The Border Morning Mail and Riverina Times'' and later a ...

'', '' The Courier'' and the '' Illawarra Mercury'' along with more than one hundred community-based websites across Australia and numerous agricultural publications including '' The Land'' and '' Queensland Country Life''. The entity was formerly owned by

Fairfax Media Fairfax Media was a media company in Australia and New Zealand, with investments in newspaper, magazines, radio and digital properties. The company was founded by John Fairfax as John Fairfax and Sons, who purchased '' The Sydney Morning Hera ...

prior to its merger with

Nine Entertainment Nine Entertainment (registered as Nine Entertainment Co. Pty Ltd) is an Australian publicly listed media company with holdings in radio and television broadcasting, newspaper publications and digital media. It uses Nine as its corporate brand ...

in 2018. In April 2019, Nine sold the business to former chief executive of real estate platform Domain Antony Catalano and billionaire

Alex Waislitz Alex Waislitz (born 1958) is an Australian businessman. Waislitz was elected to the Collingwood Football Club Board of Directors in 1998, elected as vice-president in 2009, and has provided philanthropic support to the club. Early life and ed ...

History

ACM's origins can be traced back to '' The Land'', founded in Sydney in 1911. In subsequent decades, ''The Land'' acquired various other community newspapers. In September 1970, John Fairfax acquired a 25% shareholding. In 1981 the company was renamed Rural Press. In 1985, John Fairfax increased its shareholding from 25% to 45%. In March 1989, Rural Press was listed on the

Australian Securities Exchange Australian Securities Exchange Ltd or ASX, is an Australian public company that operates Australia's primary securities exchange, the Australian Securities Exchange (sometimes referred to outside of Australia as, or confused within Australia as ...

with Fairfax Holdings having a 51% shareholding. By the mid-2000s, Rural Press owned approximately 170 newspaper and magazine titles, the ''

'' being the most prominent. These were predominantly in rural Australia, though it also owned a number of agricultural publications in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

. It also owned radio stations in regional

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest o ...

and

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to t ...

, a range of Australian

classified advertising Classified advertising is a form of advertising, particularly common in newspapers, online and other periodicals, which may be sold or distributed free of charge. Classified advertisements are much cheaper than larger display advertisements used ...

websites, and Australian commercial printing plants. On 6 December 2006 it was announced that Rural Press and John Fairfax would merge to form a new company estimated in value at $12 billion. Under the deal, the family company of Rural Press chairman JohnB. Fairfax (who did not have an interest in the company bearing his family's name) took a 13.5 per cent stake in the merged entity. This was just short of a controlling interest, but gave Fairfax a potential blocking stake if

Publishing & Broadcasting Limited Publishing and Broadcasting Limited (PBL) was one of Australia's largest corporations. With interests primarily in media and gambling, for the entirety of its existence it was largely controlled by the Packer family. History Predecessors PB ...

News Corporation News Corporation (abbreviated News Corp.), also variously known as News Corporation Limited, was an American multinational mass media corporation controlled by media mogul Rupert Murdoch and headquartered at 1211 Avenue of the Americas in New ...

, the

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, and is one of ...

or a private equity raider embarked on a hostile takeover, as had been widely anticipated following the Federal Parliament's passage of new media laws on October 18, 2006. The merger with Fairfax was completed on 8 May 2007. Papers from Rural Press were published under the Fairfax Regional Media brand, which later became Australian Community Media. Fairfax Media merged with Nine Entertainment in December 2018 and Nine sold ACM to Antony Catalano and

in April 2019.

Newspapers

Regional Daily

New South Wales

External links

ACM Ad Centre
* *

References

{{Nine Entertainment Australian news websites Companies based in Sydney Companies formerly listed on the Australian Securities Exchange Fairfax Media Holding companies of Australia Mass media in Sydney Newspaper companies of Australia Nine Entertainment 2019 mergers and acquisitions