Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk opens the Queensland Country Press Association conference in Brisbane. Sitting on the left is Carl Portella, the editor of The Express in Mareeba and QCPA president. Cape York Weekly is also a member.
QUEENSLAND Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has described regional newspapers as the “lifeblood of their communities” before offering to help ensure that a larger share of the Queensland state government advertising budget is directed at communicating through independent regional newspapers.
The Premier made the comments at the Queensland Country Press Association conference in Brisbane last week, referring to the “resurgence” of independent newspaper publishers in Queensland as a contributing factor.
The announcement from Premier Palaszczuk follows the recent Victorian government commitment to ensuring one full page of government advertising is placed in every regional newspaper every week.
Ms Palaszczuk’s pledge also aligns with key findings from a recently released Deakin University report on media innovation which found that “securing the future of quality and reliable news and information platforms in non-metropolitan areas is in the national interest”.
