The following changes were made in the Public Interest Publishers Index (PIPI) between 1 October 2025 – 31 December 2025.

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To access the Q4 data sheet, please click here.
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Due to a potential conflict of interest with my employment at the Local & Independent News Association, any significant changes that affect LINA members have been reviewed by PIPI’s Independent Advisor, Dr Alison McAdam. These are marked with an asterisk.

Market changes in Q4

DateOutletStateChange
11/12/25Ipswich Tribune TodayQLDOutlet opened
11/12/25Ipswich West Moreton TodayQLDOutlet closed
11/12/25Ipswich TribuneQLDOutlet closed
01/12/25Ipswich TribuneQLDChange of ownership
01/12/25Fassifern GuardianQLDChange of ownership
01/12/25Moreton Border NewsQLDChange of ownership
01/12/25North West WeeklyQLDOutlet closed
14/11/25Esperance WeekenderWAOutlet closed

Changes were observed at seven news outlets in Q4.

At the start of December Ipswich Media acquired the Ipswich Tribune, Fassifern Guardian and Moreton Daily News from the Creighton family.1 Ipswich Media, part of the Today Group, already operates titles in the Ipswich and Moreton Bay regions. The Fassifern and Moreton Bay titles have continued uninterrupted, while the Ipswich Tribune and existing Ipswich West Moreton Today have been combined to form the Ipswich Tribune Today. All of this is reflected in the update.

Mount Isa-based title the North West Weekly closed in December 2025 after switching to digital-only publishing in August 2025. Founder Matt Nicholls wrote that the ‘massive’ readership ‘doesn’t necessarily translate to a sustainable business’.2 Both the shift to digital publishing and the closure are reflected in this quarter’s update.

The Esperance Weekender in Western Australia closed on 14 November. The title was founded in 2021 following the closure of Australian Community Media’s Esperance Express the year before.3 The closure leaves the town without a dedicated paper, though it is within the coverage area of Seven West Media’s Kalgoorlie Miner.

Other data changes

The following are changes that were made to the data but which did not occur during the reporting period. These can be corrections to data, or market changes that occurred during a previous quarter but which were not captured at the time.

DateOutletStateChange
18/09/25Wet Tropic TimesQLDSet as inactive
14/09/25Central Coast Daily News*NSWSet as inactive
31/08/25Whitsunday NewsQLDOutlet closed
26/08/25The Southern Wire*NSWOutlet opened
25/08/25The Politics–Outlet closed
23/07/25Southern Highlands ExpressNSWOutlet closed
17/07/25Wet Tropic TimesQLDEnd of print edition
02/07/25NCN HeraldVICOutlet renamed
01/07/25North Central NewsVICChange of ownership
24/07/24Central Coast Daily News*NSWAdded to the database
01/09/20The Post*NSWReduced coverage area
31/12/18Business News Australia*–Added to the database
31/12/18Neos Kosmos*–Added to the database
31/12/18Victorian Aboriginal NewsVICRemoved from the database

Two changes made in this quarter concern the Wet Tropic Times.4 In July 2025 it shifted to a digital-only publishing model. Editor Sari Russo said that the decision was made due to a ‘rapidly evolving media landscape’.5 In the September edition, Russo announced that the publication would be suspended for the remainder of the year6 but that ‘exciting changes’ are coming soon. The column also said that a weekly AI news vlog would continue to be released, but this appears to have ended on 10 November.7

Separately to these developments, the old newspaper’s website has closed.8 The digital archive and AI news vlog are now hosted on a site called Tropic Explorer, which appears (from the website’s copy, there is no Tropic Explorer product) to be focussed on wellness and tourism content.

I’ve added the end of print publication in July and the suspension of the title entirely from September in the database. PIPI doesn’t currently accept AI-based news products so the end of the vlog was not recorded. I will review the Wet Tropic Times again in Q1/26 to see if it is relaunched in some form, and whether it continues to meet the eligibility requirements.

Two changes this quarter were also made to the Central Coast Daily News.9 It was founded by Truepenny Media publisher Jacquelene Pearson in July 2024 to cover the Central Coast of New South Wales, particularly issues related to council. It has not published a story since 14 September 2025, though Pearson confirmed on email that she intends to bring the publication back. Both of these events – the founding and the period of inactivity – are now reflected in the database.

Whitsunday News closed in August 2025 after five years in operation.10

The Southern Wire has been added to the database after launching in August 2025.11 It is covers the New South Wales Southern Highlands and Southern Tablelands areas.

The Politics, which launched as an independent website in February 2024, has been listed as closed in the database. It has returned from periods of inactivity previously in its short life but now has not published since August 2025. Attempts to contact three people listed at General Publishing, including the editor and the generic ‘hello@’ email, all returned ‘address not found’ errors.

The Southern Highlands Express closed in July 2025, following the closure of its printer.12 The Express launched in 2020 to fill a gap left by the temporary suspension of Australian Community Media’s Southern Highlands News.

In July North Central News, covering towns in the Buloke Shire in central Victoria, was acquired by Loddon Herald publisher Muso’s Media.13 Following the acquisition the title was renamed NCN Herald.14

The Post15 has had its coverage area reduced. In order to list a coverage area, PIPI requires a minimum average of one story per month over the preceding 12 months. The Post was recorded as covering the Hornsby, Ku-ring-gai, Willoughby, Mosman, North Sydney and Northern Beaches local government areas. In the 12 months prior to its annual review on 28 November, the post had published:

  • 12+ stories from Hornsby
  • 12+ stories from Ku-ring-gai
  • Eight stories from Willoughby
  • Two stories from Mosman
  • Nine stories from North Sydney
  • One story from Northern Beaches

Though it clearly meets the coverage threshold in Hornsby and Ku-ring-gai, that was not the case in the other four council areas. These have been removed from its coverage area. Its next scheduled review is in Q4/26.

Business News Australia16 has been added to the database. As the name suggests, it is primarily focussed on business news, but it also covers court cases and fines, policy and regulation, the economy and labour market, and has dedicated sections for health and education-related business news. With this broader focus it was found to be eligible.

Neos Kosmos17 has been added to the database. It is a longstanding thrice-weekly newspaper published in both English and Greek.

Finally, on reassessment Victorian Aboriginal News18 was found to be ineligible for the project and has been removed from the database. This was due to its format: it is primarily a broadcaster, and PIPI is limited to outlets that are primarily publishers. VAN’s news distribution is through podcasts and a weekly radio show on 3KND. Though it does publish on its website, these are entirely transcripts of segments on the podcast.

Other events

In December publisher Kore Communications Strategy launched the North Coast Times,19 covering the New South Wales North Coast. It is a LINA member and so needs to go through the independent assessment process before it is added to the database, but it launched slightly too late to be included for Q4. We will assess its eligibility in Q1.

CommunityLocalMetroStateNationalTotal
Print864397113546
Digital91495026189
Total9558812139735
Number of public interest publishers recorded in PIPI, 31 December 2025.

Footnotes

  1. Fassifern Guardian. 2025. Ipswich Media acquires The Fassifern Guardian. Fassifern Guardian. 5 November. https://fassifernguardian.au/news/2025/11/05/ipswich-media-acquires-the-fassifern-guardian/ ↩︎
  2. North West Weekly. 2025. Facebook post announcing closure, since deleted. https://www.facebook.com/northwestweeklynewspaper/posts/pfbid0k4sjR5oX2kD1ysKmFLG7CySk7hcpchZoXK9p4xWKpMG3mAYCqtnm523KeMi9YKbjl ↩︎
  3. Tap K. 2025. Esperance Weekender closure highlights media diversity issues in regional areas. ABC News. 15 November. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11-15/esperance-weekender-final-edition-regional-media-diversity/106003060 ↩︎
  4. Wet Tropic Times. https://tropicexplorer.com.au/ ↩︎
  5. Russo S. 2025. A new chapter begins: Wet Tropic Times launches first digital newspaper. Wet Tropic Times. 17 July. p. 6. https://heyzine.com/flip-book/a058c0c065.html#page/6 ↩︎
  6. Russo S. 2025. An update on our publication schedule. Wet Tropic Times. 18 September. p. 6. https://heyzine.com/flip-book/a2f1cb7f8d.html ↩︎
  7. Russo S. 2025. The Forgotten North Are We Being Written Out. 10 November. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Srfff01wuR0 ↩︎
  8. Wet Tropic Times. https://www.wettropictimes.com.au ↩︎
  9. Central Coast Daily News. https://centralcoastdaily.news/todays-news ↩︎
  10. Whitsunday News. 2025. Dear followers and readers. Facebook post. 26 August. https://www.facebook.com/WhitsundayNews/posts/pfbid0YfHshSFSo8QMtD5auc1oANJTFz8qfnCh29xbEyTSTZDFtAzpvHtgpganV8zjHRfzl ↩︎
  11. The Southern Wire. 2025. MEDIA RELEASE. Facebook post. 26 August. https://www.facebook.com/thesouthernwire/posts/pfbid02RkFfjNjiyH5jn5Q8SDz594yeLDV5mh3vmw1Tw9cGvnWh8D35k913fqcgMNmSgsmkl ↩︎
  12. Southern Highlands Express. 2025. COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT. Facebook post. 23 July. https://www.facebook.com/SouthernHighlandsExpress/posts/pfbid0eyam4RGePP7YxZTxhzjq6wLiQqEFrnypRYNwMEZas8vHCqX8y5inDgbzhW2dcwBCl ↩︎
  13. NCN Herald. 2025. A new era dawns heralding the end of the Marland era. NCN Herald. 7 May. https://www.northcentralnews.com.au/a-new-era-dawns-heralding-the-end-of-the-marland-era-2025-05-07 ↩︎
  14. NCN Herald. 2025. Your new look NCN Herald. Facebook post. 1 July. https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2805501526506660 ↩︎
  15. The Post. https://www.hkpost.com.au/ ↩︎
  16. Business News Australia. https://www.businessnewsaustralia.com/ ↩︎
  17. Neos Kosmos. https://neoskosmos.com/en/ ↩︎
  18. Victorian Aboriginal News. https://vicaboriginalnews.com.au/ ↩︎
  19. North Coast Times. https://nctimes.com.au/ ↩︎