# Australian Community Media

Australian Community Media (ACM) is a media company in Australia responsible for over 160 regional publications. Its mastheads include the Canberra Times, Newcastle Herald, The Examiner, The Border Mail, 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 prior to its merger with Nine Entertainment 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 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 with Fairfax Holdings having a 51% shareholding.
By the mid-2000s, Rural Press owned approximately 170 newspaper and magazine titles, the Canberra Times being the most prominent. These were predominantly in rural Australia, though it also owned a number of agricultural publications in the United States and New Zealand. It also owned radio stations in regional Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia, a range of Australian classified advertising 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 John B. 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, News Corporation, the Seven Network 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. 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 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.

## Newspapers
### Regional Daily
#### New South Wales

* The Border Mail (Albury-Wodonga)
* Central Western Daily (Orange)
* Daily Liberal (Dubbo)
* Illawarra Mercury (Wollongong)
* The Newcastle Herald (Newcastle)
* The Daily Advertiser (Wagga Wagga)
* The Northern Daily Leader (Tamworth)
* Western Advocate (Bathurst)

#### Other

* The Advocate (Burnie) (Devonport)
* Bendigo Advertiser (Bendigo)
* The Canberra Times (Canberra)
* The Courier (Ballarat)
* The Examiner (Launceston)
* The Standard (Warrnambool)

### Non-daily
#### New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory
##### ACT and Southern Inland NSW

* Braidwood Times
* Crookwell Gazette
* Goulburn Post
* Highlands Post (Bowral)
* Southern Highland News (Bowral)
* The Chronicle (Canberra)
* The Post Weekly (Goulburn)
* The Queanbeyan Age
* Yass Tribune

##### Illawarra and South East NSW

* Bay Post (Batemans Bay) and Moruya Examiner
* Bega District News
* Bombala Times
* Eurobodalla Shire Independent
* Kiama Independent
* Magnet (Eden)
* Merimbula News Weekly
* Milton Ulladulla Times
* Narooma News
* Shoalhaven & Nowra News
* South Coast Register (Nowra)
* The Advertiser (incorporating Lake Times)

##### New England

* Glen Innes Examiner
* Moree Champion
* Namoi Valley Independent (Gunnedah)
* Tenterfield Star
* The Armidale Express
** Armidale Express Extra
* The Guyra Argus
* The Inverell Times
* The Tamworth Times (including The Tamworth Independent)
* Walcha News

##### Newcastle and Hunter region

* Dungog Chronicle
* Hunter Valley News
* Lakes Mail
* Maitland & Lower Hunter Star
* Muswellbrook Chronicle
* Newcastle & Lake Macquarie Star
* Port Stephens Examiner
* The Advertiser (Cessnock) The Advertiser
* Maitland Mercury
* The Scone Advocate
* The Singleton Argus

##### Central Coast NSW

* Central Coast Community News (Gosford)

##### North Coast NSW

* Camden Haven Courier
* Express (Port Macquarie)
* Gloucester Advocate
* Great Lakes Advocate
* Guardian News (Nambucca)
* Habiscus Happynings
* Macleay Valley Happynings
* Manning Great Lakes Extra
* Manning River Times
* Mid-Coast Observer (Macksville)
* Port Macquarie News
* The Bellingen Shire Courier-Sun
* The Macleay Argus
* Wauchope Gazette
* The Byron Shire Echo
* Wingham Chronicle

##### South West NSW

* Cootamundra Herald
* Eastern Riverina Chronicle
* Harden Murrumburrah Express
* Southern Cross (Junee)
* The Area News (Griffith)
* The Irrigator (Leeton)
* The Leader (Wagga Wagga)
* Southern Riverina News (Finley)
* The Corowa Free Press
* Deniliquin Pastoral Times
* The Observer (Darlington Point / Coleambally)

##### Sydney Suburban

* Blue Mountains Gazette
* Fairfield City Champion
* Hawkesbury Courier
* Hawkesbury Gazette
* Liverpool City Champion
* St George & Sutherland Shire Leader
* The Advertiser (Campbelltown/Camden-Narellan/Wollondilly)
* Inner West Times
* Auburn Review
* The Bankstown-Canterbury Torch

##### Western NSW

* Blayney Chronicle
* Boorowa News
* Canowindra News
* Cowra Guardian
* Dubbo Mailbox Shopper
* Forbes Advocate
* Lithgow Mercury
* Midstate Observer (Orange)
* Mudgee Guardian and Gulgong Advertiser
* Narromine News and Trangie Advocate
* Nyngan Observer
* Oberon Review
* Parkes Champion-Post
* The Grenfell Record and Bland Advertiser
* The Young Witness
* Wellington Times
* Western Times (Bathurst)
* ACM Rural Events

#### Queensland and Northern Territory

* Beaudesert Times
* Goondiwindi Argus
* Jimboomba Times
* Redland City Bulletin
* The North West Star (Mount Isa)
* The Longreach Leader
* The Katherine Times

#### South Australia

* Barossa & Light Herald
* The Border Chronicle
* Coastal Leader
* Eyre Peninsula Tribune
* The Northern Argus
* Victor Harbor Times
** On the Coast
* Port Lincoln Times
* The Flinders News
* The Islander
* The Murray Valley Standard
* The Naracoorte Herald
* The Recorder
* The Transcontinental
* West Coast Sentinel
* The Whyalla News

#### Tasmania

* The Sunday Examiner (Launceston)

#### Victoria

ACM is represented in Victoria by "The Mighty V" and the Victorian Country Press Association (VCPA)
* Latrobe Valley Express
* The Advocate (Daylesford)
* The Ararat Advertiser
* The Moyne Gazette
* The Stawell Times-News
* The Wimmera Mail-Times
* Western Port News
* Southern Peninsula News
* Mornington News
* Chelsea-Mordialloc-Mentone News
* Frankston Times

#### Western Australia

* Augusta Margaret River Mail
* Bunbury Mail [Wikidata]
* Busselton-Dunsborough Mail
* Collie Mail
* Donnybrook-Bridgetown-Manjimup Mail
* Mandurah Mail
* The Avon Valley and Wheatbelt Advocate
* The Esperance Express

### Agricultural
#### Rural Weeklies

* The Land
* Queensland Country Life
* Farm Weekly
* Stock & Land
* Stock Journal
* North Queensland Register
* AgTrader

#### Specialty Publications

* Alfa Lotfeeding
* Australian Cotton & Grains Outlook
* Good Fruit & Vegetables
* Horse Deals
* The Australian Dairy Farmer

### Specialty brands
#### Targeted brands

* The Senior
* Focus
* Rural Bookshop
* The Content Studio
* Chi Squared Research

#### Rural newspaper inserted publications

* Country Leader
* Hunter Valley and North Coast Town & Country
* North West Magazine
* The Rural
* The Border News
* Town and Country Magazine
* Western Magazine