Sunshine Coast Daily

Last updated

Sunshine Coast Daily
TypeNewspaper
Owner(s) News Corp Australia
EditorNadja Fleet
LanguageEnglish
Headquarters Maroochydore QLD 4558
Website sunshinecoastdaily.com.au

The Sunshine Coast Daily is an online newspaper specifically serving the Sunshine Coast region of Queensland, Australia. It is owned by News Corp Australia. [1] It was originally founded as a print newspaper, however since 2020 the publication is only available in digital forms.

Contents

In 2008, the circulation of the Sunshine Coast Daily was 21,604 Monday to Friday and 34,716 on Saturday. [2] [ failed verification ] In 2015, those figures were down to 12,200 Monday to Friday and just under 18,000 on Saturday. [3]

There were also a number of community publications attached to the newspaper, the Caloundra Weekly, Maroochy Weekly, Nambour Weekly, and Buderim Chronicle. The Sunshine Coast Daily was also responsible for producing the Caboolture News, Noosa News, and Bribie Weekly. These had all been closed by News Limited by mid-2020.

History

1980-1988 Provincial Newspapers Queensland Ownership

On 7 July 1980, Provincial Newspapers Queensland used the presence it had been building up on the Sunshine Coast through the purchase of various weeklies in the 1970s, combined with the 1964 purchase of the Nambour Chronicle (another local Sunshine Coast newspaper) to launch a new publication, published from Maroochydore, [4] the Sunshine Coast Daily. The Sunshine Coast Daily steadily became a strong performer, building its circulation to 21,052 by September 1992 in a region with a population of 125,000. [4] It gave fierce competition to the long-established Brisbane daily, the Courier Mail. [4] The success of the Sunshine Coast Daily acquisition was reflective in Provincial Newspaper Queensland's annual net profit. In 1985 its annual net profit increased from $1,919,000 in 1980 to $4,510,000. [5] In 1987–88, its final year of operation as Provincial Newspaper's Queensland, profit was $4million. [5]

1999-2016 Australian Regional Media and 2016-present NewsCorp Ownership

In June 2016, the sale of Australian Regional Media to News Corp was approved by 99.94% of shareholders who voted, not including News Limited and its associated shareholders. [6] In June 2016, Australian Regional Media was sold to News Corp Australia for $36.6 million. [7]

NewsCorp Attempted Sale of Regional Newspapers 2020

In May 2020, due to the already challenged regional newspaper sector suffering from significant declines in advertising spend before the COVID-19 crisis and even more significant advertising booking cancellations caused by the pandemic, [8] NewsCorp Australia to enter discussions to sell their regional newspaper publication.

NewsCorp was in discussion with Australian Community Media to reach an agreement on the sale of the portfolio of more than 100 regional and community newspapers. However, on 12 May 2020, News Corp Australasia executive chairman Michael Miller said the talks with Australian Community Media had failed to result in a sale. [8]

Digitisation

On 28 May 2020, NewsCorp announced that there were to be significant job cuts to restructure the company towards the digitisation of regional newspapers. [9] On 27 June 2020, the final print Sunshine Coast Daily was published. [10] Many long-time local residents were disappointed in the action saying that the paper had been a “source of community connection for generations, documenting both small and large events in [people’s] lives”. [10] Local publications including the Caloundra Weekly and Nambour Weekly ceased as part of this restructure. [11]

As of 2020, The Sunshine Coast Daily has three major online platforms: website, app and digital edition.

Website

The website follows the same format as the former print version. All members of the public can access the titles and blurbs of the major news articles of the day on the website however access to the articles on the website are only accessible to people who purchase the unlimited digital access Sunshine Coast Daily subscription. The subscription rate is $1 a week for the first four weeks and $7 a week thereafter. [12] This subscription allows users unlimited digital access on any device, access to apps and unrestricted digital access to the Courier Mail. [12]

App

In September 2016, the Sunshine Coast Daily launched an app for readers to access major news stories online rather than in print. [13] The app is available on both the Apple App Store and Google Play. It is compatible with ioS and Android. There have been multiple updates to the app since its production in 2016 which have allowed users to access the major articles of the day from their smart device.

Digital Edition

The Digital Edition of the Sunshine Coast Daily is an online flip book. It was launched in 2016 [13] and aims to replicate the print version of the publication. When the digital edition was initially launched it was a four-page interactive digital edition [13] highlighting major stories as they would have appeared in paper. As of July 2020, due to positive feedback from locals, the digital edition is sixteen pages and also features nation and world news, puzzles, horoscopes, shares, TV guides and cartoons. [13]

Organisation

The editor of the Sunshine Coast Daily is Nadja Fleet. [14] She has been the Editor in Chief at the Sunshine Coast Daily since 2017 [15] and currently resides on the Sunshine Coast.

Headquarters

The Sunshine Coast Daily Headquarters were located in Maroochydore, Queensland on Newspaper Place and Dalton Drive. As of June 2020, due to the significant decline in revenue due to COVID-19, employees of the Sunshine Coast Daily were being moved out of the headquarters as it was announced that NewsCorp Australia were to lease the space. [16]

Circulation

The readership of the print Sunshine Coast Daily increased in the early 2000s to 2014. From 2014 to the introduction of the online-only paper, the news publication had seen a steady decline in readership.

The weekly Monday-Friday print Sunshine Coast Daily decreased from 45,000 to 42,000 from March 2014 to March 2015 and the readership of the weekend (Saturday) print Sunshine Coast Daily decreased from 46,000 to 37,000 from March 2014 to March 2015 [17]

The reasons for this decline in circulation is because of competition from other media and because newspapers represent a “mature” industry approaching its end. [18] Furthermore, population declines, closure of major industries in regional areas and reductions in editorial space [4] may have also contributed to the decline in readership.

Controversies

A controversy faced by the Sunshine Coast Daily was the front-page sniper shot depiction targeted at Anastasia Palaszczuk in 2019. [19] This dispute was taken to the Australian Press Council that concluded that the Sunshine Coast Daily apology and the fact that the publication removed the image from its digital platforms and published letters to the editor that were critical of the page resolved the issue. [19]

Reputation

The Sunshine Coast Daily has won the following awards:

AwardJournalistArticleDateCitation
Walkley FoundationTenille BonoguoreN/A2005 [20]
PANPA Newspaper of the YearN/AN/A2007 [21]
PANPA Newspaper of the YearN/AN/A2011 [22]
Regional News Brand of the Year

Finalist

N/AN/A2019 [23]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>The Australian</i> Daily newspaper in Australia

The Australian, with its Saturday edition The Weekend Australian, is a daily newspaper in broadsheet format published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964. As the only Australian daily newspaper distributed nationally, its readership as of September 2019 of both print and online editions was 2,394,000. Its editorial line has been self-described over time as centre-right.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nambour</span> Town in Queensland, Australia

Nambour is a rural town and locality in the Sunshine Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, the locality of Nambour had a population of 12,145 people.

News Corp Australia is an Australian media conglomerate and wholly owned subsidiary of the American News Corp.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sunshine Coast Airport</span> Airport in Queensland, Australia

Sunshine Coast Airport is an Australian international airport located in Marcoola, 10 km (6.2 mi) north of Maroochydore, roughly centrally located along the coast of the Sunshine Coast Region. It is approximately 90 km (56 mi) north of centre of Brisbane, within the South East Queensland agglomeration. The airport is owned by Sunshine Coast Regional Council and is the principal and only jet-capable airport serving an urban area of nearly 400,000 residents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maroochydore</span> Town in Queensland, Australia

Maroochydore is a coastal town in the Sunshine Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, the urban area of Maroochydore had a population of 63,673 people.

<i>The Mercury</i> (Hobart) Daily newspaper in Tasmania, Australia

The Mercury is a daily newspaper, published in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, by Davies Brothers Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, itself a subsidiary of News Corp. The weekend issues of the paper are called Mercury on Saturday and Sunday Tasmanian. The current editor of TheMercury is Craig Herbert.

The Newcastle Herald is a local tabloid newspaper published daily, Monday to Saturday, in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. It is the only local newspaper that serves the greater Hunter Region and Central Coast region six days a week. It is owned by Australian Community Media.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kawana Waters, Queensland</span> Town in Queensland, Australia

Kawana Waters is an urban centre on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia, between Caloundra and Maroochydore along the Coral Sea coast. It was originally the estate development name and has passed into common usage, but it is not officially a town nor a locality. The official suburbs are connected by the Nicklin Way arterial road. It is sometimes abbreviated to Kawana, which is a suburb of Rockhampton.

Quest Community Newspapers is a newspaper company in Bowen Hills, Queensland, Australia. It is a subsidiary of News Corp Australia.

Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia, with four commercial radio stations, four narrowcast radio stations, three community radio stations, five Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) radio stations, three commercial television stations, a regional daily newspaper and a community weekly newspaper. There are no local Sunday papers although the Sunday Mail publishes a North Queensland edition, which is printed and distributed from Townsville. Townsville also has extensive outdoor and indoor advertising media, ranging from taxi advertising to large-format billboards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sunshine Coast Region</span> Local government area in Queensland, Australia

The Sunshine Coast Region is a local government area located in the Sunshine Coast region of South East Queensland, Australia, from which it takes its name.

ABC Sunshine Coast is an ABC Local Radio station based in Maroochydore. The station broadcasts to the Sunshine Coast region of Queensland. This includes the towns of Nambour, Caloundra, Noosa and Gympie.

The NewsMail is an online newspaper based in Bundaberg, Queensland, Australia. It has a wide range of content including domestic and international affairs. The paper has a long, notable history, starting as a family business and more recently becoming part of the regional network of News Corp Australia, the largest Australian newspaper publisher. It shut down its printed edition and became online-only in June 2020.

The Fraser Coast Chronicle is an online newspaper serving the Fraser Coast area in Queensland, Australia. It was started as the Maryborough Chronicle, Wide Bay and Burnett Advertiser.

<i>The Toowoomba Chronicle</i> Australian newspaper

The Toowoomba Chronicle is a daily newspaper serving Toowoomba, the Lockyer Valley and Darling Downs regional areas in Queensland, Australia.

The Observer is an online newspaper serving Gladstone, Queensland in Australia.

<i>The Gympie Times</i> Daily newspaper in Queensland, Australia

The Gympie Times is an online newspaper serving Gympie in Queensland, Australia. The newspaper is owned by News Corp Australia and was published from Monday to Saturday but ceased printed publication in June of 2020. The final printed edition was on Saturday 26 June, 2020. It remains an online only news source.

The Queensland Times is an online newspaper serving Ipswich and surrounds in Queensland, Australia. The newspaper is owned by News Corp Australia. The circulation of The Queensland Times is 10,804 Monday to Friday and 14,153 on Saturday.

<i>Warwick Daily News</i>

The Warwick Daily News is an online newspaper serving Warwick, Queensland, Australia. The newspaper is published by The Warwick Newspaper Pty Ltd and owned by News Corp Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maroochydore (suburb)</span> Suburb of Maroochydore, Queensland, Australia

Maroochydore is a coastal suburb of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia, and is the central suburb and central business district of the Maroochydore urban centre. In the 2021 census, the suburb of Maroochydore had a population of 20,629 people.

References

  1. ↑ Burrowes, Tim (29 December 2016) News Corp completes takeover of APN's regional newspapers, Mumbrella . Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  2. ↑ Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC). Average Net Paid Sales for October–December 2008 (metro and larger regional titles)/January–June 2008 (other regional titles).
  3. ↑ "Sunshine Coast Daily: Contact Information, Journalists, and Overview | Muck Rack". muckrack.com. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Kirkpatrick, Rod (1994). "Six dynasties that ended in a whimper: the end of PNQ". Australian Studies in Journalism. 3.
  5. 1 2 Moffett, Geoff (1992). Australia's Top 500 Companies, 1992-93. Sydney: Riddell Information Services Pty Ltd. p. 85.
  6. ↑ "Media boss says readers will be the winners in News Corp deal". Queensland Times. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  7. ↑ Mason, Max (2016). "Rural papers better under Murdoch: APN". The Australian Financial Review.
  8. 1 2 Samios, Zoe (12 May 2020). "Catalano's talks with News Corp over regional papers collapse". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  9. ↑ Doran, Matthew (2020). "News Corp to cut jobs in restructure towards digital-only community and regional newspapers". ABC.
  10. 1 2 Kinninment, Megan (2020). "As Sunshine Coast Daily's run ends a family shares the impact of having no local newspaper". ABC Sunshine Coast.
  11. ↑ "Future is digital: News announces major changes". Gatton Star. 28 May 2020. Archived from the original on 22 December 2020. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  12. 1 2 "Subscribe Now to Sunshine Coast Daily for exclusive premium stories". www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  13. 1 2 3 4 "Daily launches new digital edition". Sunshine Coast Daily. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  14. ↑ "Contact". Sunshine Coast Daily. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  15. ↑ LinkedIn (2020). "LinkedIn: Nadja Fleet".
  16. ↑ ABC Sunshine Coast (2020). "THE SUNSHINE COAST DAILY TO MOVE OUT OF NEWSPAPER PLACE". ABC.
  17. ↑ "Regional newspaper readership down in Queensland". Roy Morgan. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  18. ↑ Green, Kerry (1999). "How newsroom failures limit readership gains" (PDF). Australian Studies in Journalism. 8: 18.
  19. 1 2 Australian Press Council. "Adjudication 1771: Premier Palaszczuk/Sunshine Coast Daily (September 2019)". Australian Press Council Adjudications.
  20. ↑ The Walkley Foundation (2019). "Walkley Winners Archive - The Walkley Foundation". www.walkleys.com. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  21. ↑ "The Age wins Pacific award". The Sydney Morning Herald. 8 August 2007. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  22. ↑ "Daily wins newspaper of the year". Stanthorpe Border Post. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  23. ↑ "ASG Excellence in IT Journalism Award". National Press Club of Australia. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.