The ''Plains Producer'' is a weekly newspaper published Wednesdays by Papers and Publications Pty. Ltd. in

Balaklava Balaklava ( Ukrainian and , , ) is a settlement on the Crimean Peninsula and part of the city of Sevastopol. It is an administrative center of Balaklavsky District that used to be part of the Crimean Oblast before it was transferred to Sevast ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

. It was founded in 1903 and was printed until 1941, when it was stopped by the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The publication was revived in 1946 and it has been published continuously since then.

History

The newspaper, founded by James Walker, was first known as ''Central Advocate'', which started on 25 September 1903 and continued until 10 September 1909 (Issue 305). when it was renamed ''Wooroora Producer'' (subtitled: ''"incorporating the Central Advocate and The Hamley Bridge Express"''), to reflect its link to the former

Electoral district of Wooroora Wooroora was an electoral district of the House of Assembly in the Australian colony (state from 1901) of South Australia. The electorate was created by the Electoral Districts Act 1872 of the South Australian parliament but it was not until t ...

(1875-1938). It was purchased in 1910 by W. Hancock who went into partnership with S.W. Osborne (who became sole proprietor in 1923), then by Amy Henstridge in July 1926 (who had previously owned the

Snowtown Snowtown is a town located in the Mid North of South Australia 145 km (90 miles) north of Adelaide and lies on the main road and rail routes between Adelaide and Perth, Western Australia, Perth – the Augusta Highway and Adelaide-Port ...

paper ''The Stanley Herald''). In 1926, the newspaper shifted from a broadsheet to a tabloid format and from September 1932, the Henstridge family assumed ownership. The ''Wooroora Producer'' was printed until 27 June 1940 (Issue 1676), when the publication was renamed on 4 July to ''The Producer'' (subtitled: "''with which is incorporated "The Central Advocate" and "Hamley Bridge Express"''"). However, due to wartime restrictions and rationing, publication ceased for five years, from 19 June 1941 (Issue 1726) until resuming as a "''Post-War Series''" on 4 July 1946 (Vol. 40. No. 1). In 1975, it moved from private ownership when it was bought by Papers and Publications, and in an effort to overhaul the newspaper, it was renamed to ''Plains Producer'' in 1983.

Distribution

According to the website, ''the media workshop (TMW)'', the newspaper currently "enjoys a 90% penetration rate in

and surrounding areas", meaning a readership of around 7,000 people in the towns of:

, Blyth, Brinkworth,

Clare Clare may refer to: Places Antarctica * Clare Range, a mountain range in Victoria Land Australia * Clare, South Australia, a town in the Clare Valley * Clare Valley, South Australia Canada * Clare (electoral district), an electoral district * Cl ...

, Watervale, Manoora, Port Wakefield, Balaklava, Auburn, Saddleworth, Riverton, Owen,

Hamley Bridge Hamley Bridge is a community in South Australia located at the junction of the Gilbert and Light rivers, as well as the site of a former railway junction. Named by the government of the day, in honour of the Acting Governor of South Australia L ...

, Tarlee, Kapunda, Dublin, Windsor, Lower Light, Mallala, Two Wells,

Gawler Gawler, established in 1839, is the oldest country town in the state of South Australia. It was named after the second Governor (British Vice-Regal representative) of the colony of South Australia, George Gawler. It is about north of the st ...

, Wasleys, and

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. As of 2018, the newspapers weekly print run is around 3,500, representing a readership of around 10,000 people.

Awards

The newspaper won the BankSA Best Newspaper award (with a circulation under 5,000) in 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2008. It also won the Country Press SA Inc. award for best newspaper (under 3000 circulation) in 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2008 and 2009.

Digitisation

Australian National Library The National Library of Australia (NLA), formerly the Commonwealth National Library and Commonwealth Parliament Library, is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the ''National Library Act 1960'' for "mainta ...

carries images and text versions of the newspaper from 1903 to 1941, and 1946 to 1950, accessible using

Trove Trove is an Australian online library database owned by the National Library of Australia in which it holds partnerships with source providers National and State Libraries Australia, an aggregator and service which includes full text documen ...

, the on-line newspaper retrieval service.

References

External links

Plains Producer website

Back Issues and other publications
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Plains Producer Newspapers published in South Australia Newspapers established in 1940 1940 establishments in Australia Weekly newspapers published in Australia