Rupert Murdoch digitises most regional papers or shuts them down

Regional Queenslanders and nearly all other districts across the nation are about to lose their local rag. Something as fundamental as a local newspaper which a reader can pick up from the newsagent  is a part of Australian culture. Regional Australia can place the blame fairly and squarely on the LNP/ALP duopoly for allowing such a concentration of media in the hands of one media monolith. Murdoch took the abundant advertising cream from these tabloids for two to three decades after buying most independent newspapers from family owned businesses across Australia.

Murdoch editorials and general news stories have always favoured the LNP first, then the ALP and bugger everybody else. This is how Murdoch was allowed to have such a disproportionate concentration of media ownership which includes nearly all major city dailies and The Australian. Billions of dollars revenue from government advertising and the grocery duopoly also played a big part in the editorial flavour of News Ltd publications.

The opportunity now presents itself for new players to enter the print media market but there is one snag. Murdoch still controls most of the tabloid printing presses in Queensland and the price of printing a local paper might keep new publications from filling the void.

Banjo Peterson will roll over in his grave.

from the ABC

Queensland