Empty offices, further journalist job losses, and even fewer sources of local news — that's what communities face without an emergency injection of funds by the government, according to regional newspaper owners.
Australian Community Media (ACM), the country's largest regional news publisher, is leading a Country Press Australia (CPA) campaign for an immediate cash injection to compensate for an increase in the cost of printing newspapers of up to 80 per cent.
The CPA has also called for ongoing support in the form of tax incentives and rebates for newspaper advertisers and a mandated minimum amount spent by government on advertising in regional newspapers.
However, one publisher has broken ranks with other newspaper owners, declaring the newspaper business is still profitable and businesses should not be propped up by government.
The headline "Your paper in peril" has been splashed across the front page of ACM newspapers including the Ballarat Courier, Bendigo Advertiser, and Warrnambool Standard.
This was while the CPA, which represents 330 regional newspapers, met with federal Communications Minister Paul Fletcher and opposition communications spokesperson Michelle Rowland.
ACM editorial director Rod Quinn said the threat to smaller regional mastheads was real.
"It's an issue that's very serious," Mr Quinn said.
"For the larger daily papers it's one thing. But it is most acute for the smaller, most marginal papers.
"There are some levers we can use — cover price, how many pages you print, even publishing frequencies.
"At the end of the day we love publishing newspapers, but after challenge after challenge we need government and politicians to listen.
Newsprint already on the ropes
ACM suspended dozens of regional newspapers across Australia in 2020. It led to a $50 million funding announcement from the federal government to support media organisations.
Meanwhile, News Corp announced a 13.6 per cent price rise for its daily newspapers in January.
Norwegian-owned Norske Skog is the only manufacturer of newsprint and magazine-grade paper in Australia.
A spokesman for the manufacturer said paper prices varied widely depending on whether a masthead had a contract or whether they bought on the spot market.
"Underlying market conditions including COVID, the war in Ukraine, rising power prices in Europe, and global shipping issues have all impacted [prices] more than anticipated," the spokesman said.
Norske Skog encouraged publishers to seek contracts, buy Australian product, and "not play the global spot market".
"Recently we have closed two newsprint mills in Australasia due to the decline in demand that has seen the market reduce from 1.3 million tonnes per annum to less than 300,000 tonnes," the Tasmanian-based manufacturer said, highlighting its own cost pressures.
Pyrenees Advocate and Ararat Advocate publisher Craig Wilson said he had not heard about an 80 per cent spike in newsprint prices but was told of an increase between 30-50 per cent.
He said while that would drive up costs, newspapers could still make money without government subsidies.
"The newspaper business is still profitable, it's not like there is no money coming through the door. It's not like there's no advertising," Mr Wilson insisted.
Mr Wilson said if he can "make a buck" with two small newspapers, bigger publications should be "chugging along reasonably well".
"One thing [the government] could do in this part of Victoria, for example, is open up a [printing] press site," he said.
"We've all had to go elsewhere to be printed because there just isn't a press site with any capacity that can actually take on our work.
"We've had to find someone to drive to Wodonga from Ararat every week to go pick up a big car-load of newspapers. It's a really awkward situation."
Mr Wilson said it cost about $2,500 to print 3,600 copies of the Ararat Advocate and Pyrenees Advocate each week.
"The paper component of that is only about 20 to 30 per cent," he said.
Hits keep coming
Regional newspapers already received $50 million from the federal government through its public interest news gathering fund, along with support in the form of the JobKeeper allowance during the pandemic.
Mr Quinn said government support during the pandemic was appreciated but increasing costs meant hard decisions would have to be made within weeks if there was no further support.
He said the losers would be smaller communities.
"Between PING (the Public Interest News Gathering fund) and JobKeeper, it saved our business during COVID, but you can't keep taking hits of this magnitude," Mr Quinn said.
"We know, when we've had to go through very difficult times in recent years, when those papers are not there, even temporarily, the community reacts.
"I don't think there would be anyone who would argue that newspapers don't contribute to democracy. We are seeing increasing news deserts around the country, and do we really want to see a situation where some of these communities are without their paper and without their local jobs?
"Our readership online is building and there is no secret about the trends of digital around newsprint versus digital over time, but there is still a very loyal following for our printed papers."
