Australian Community Media (ACM) is a

media Media may refer to: Communication * Means of communication, tools and channels used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Interactive media, media that is inter ...

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 1 ...

'', ''

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 Courier'' and the ''

Illawarra Mercury The ''Illawarra Mercury'' is a daily newspaper serving the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. It has been published since 1855, making it one of Australia's oldest newspapers and the second-oldest regional newspaper in New South Wa ...

'' 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 (communication), 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 ...

prior to its merger with

Nine Entertainment Nine Entertainment Co. Holdings Limited is an Australian publicly listed company with holdings in mass media radio and television broadcasting, publishing and digital media. It uses Nine as its corporate branding. The entity is largely a succ ...

in 2018. In April 2019, Nine sold the business to former chief executive of real estate platform Domain Antony Catalano and billionaire Alex Waislitz. In May 2024, one of the lawyers employed by ACM became associated with a plagiarism scandal involving the use of AI. It was discovered that articles from other publications had been rewritten, but not attributed to the original journalists.

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 John Fairfax (24 October 1804 – 16 June 1877) was an English-born journalist, company director, politician, librarian and newspaper owner, known for the incorporation of the major newspapers of modern-day Australia. Early life Fairfax was bo ...

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 (ASX) is an Australian public company that operates Australia's primary Exchange (organized market), securities exchange, the Australian Securities Exchange (sometimes referred to outside of Australia as, or c ...

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 (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. It also owned radio stations in regional

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

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 ...

and

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

, 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 use ...

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 The original incarnation of News Corporation (abbreviated News Corp. and also variously known as News Corporation Limited) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media corporation founded and controlled by media mogul Ru ...

, the

Seven Network Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...

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 Alex Waislitz in April 2019. In December 2022, management of 14 newspapers in Queensland and South Australia was taken over by Star News Group. ACM closed the ''Blayney Chronicle'' and ''Oberon Review'' in August 2024 and then a month later announced plans to close another eight papers. The company blamed the closures on

Meta Platforms Meta Platforms, Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Menlo Park, California. Meta owns and operates several prominent social media platforms and communication services, including Facebook, Instagram, Threads ...

not renewing its $200 million three-year deal with local newspaper publishers. In February 2025, ACM announced that all of its mastheads would move to one printed edition per week by 2032.Australian Community Media flags future further reduction in print editions
''ABC News'' 7 February 2025

Newspapers

Regional Daily

New South Wales

References

External links

ACM Ad Centre
* * {{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