Fairfax MMP closes seven suburban newspapers in Melbourne

June 4, 2013 2:20

Fairfax’s Metro Media Publishing is set to close seven newspapers servicing Melbourne’s south-eastern suburbs.

In a statement issued this afternoon the company announced it will close the Knox Weekly, Monash Weekly, Casey Weekly Cranbourne, Casey Weekly Berwick-Pakenham, Maroondah Weekly, Peninsula Weekly and Frankston Weekly, as of the week beginning June 17, 2013.

“We took control of these businesses following our merger with Fairfax. We knew they were incurring significant losses, and we have done a good job in reducing those losses,” said Antony Catalano CEO & Publisher of MMP.

“However, the seven titles were unable to capture a large enough volume of retail or real estate advertising to be commercially viable.” MMP said it would continue to publish the Dandenong Journal, the oldest community newspaper in Victoria and would continue to invest in the publication.

Subscribe to keep reading

Join Mumbrella Pro to access the Mumbrella archive and read our premium analysis of everything under the media and marketing umbrella.

Nic Christensen

Nic Christensen worked for Mumbrella from 2013 to 2016, in roles including deputy editor and media & technology editor. He is former media writer for The Australian and has also worked as a reporter for The Daily Telegraph and senior producer for Radio 2GB.

Topics

closure Fairfax

3 COMMENTS

Greg Carrick 4 Jun 13

These losses will leave holes in the communities that can be filled by eager people who both live in and love their community. Micro-local papers can survive where ‘chain-store’ locals fail. Having run them myself for years I know.
Local news coverage is a necessity.

User ID not verified.

Nought +then some 4 Jun 13

This Fairfax MMP deal is looking very soggy.

User ID not verified.

Lindsay. 5 Jun 13

Nothing at Fairfax should surprise as it slowly deletes its self

User ID not verified.