Residents in Tamworth, New England and NSW’s North West will no longer wake up to receive their weekday newspaper thrown on the front lawn.
In May, readers of The Northern Daily Leader will need to go online to find their fix of community news during the week, with a new-look Weekend Leader newspaper also set to launch.
ACM has decided to axe the weekday edition of The Northern Daily Leader, which has been covering the region for 150 years, due to rising printing costs.
As a result, ACM is shutting down its Tamworth printing press and News Corp will print the Weekend Leader in Sydney.
“We will continue to cover the local news that matters for Tamworth, New England and the NSW North West region online every day and we will continue to publish a printed newspaper for the region with the Weekend Leader,” ACM managing director Tony Kendall said.
“ACM is Australia’s leading regional and rural digital media company, and we must continue to refine our products to meet the changing consumption habits of modern readers.
“This prudent, proactive strategic change will help us meet the current needs of the business and secure the ongoing success of the Leader as a news source valued highly by the community.”
Over the past two years, ACM has implemented its digital plus weekend print publishing model across a number of regional markets, including Orange, Bathurst, Port Macquarie, Goulburn and Bega.
Shutting down the printing press and the switch to digital will lead to redundancies and ACM has begun a consultation process with those affected.
“We are grateful for the efforts of our editorial team at the Leader and we thank those skilled workers who have operated the presses for us in Tamworth for their hard work and expertise,” Kendall said.
