Provincial Newspapers (QLD) Ltd

Provincial Newspapers (QLD) Ltd. (PNQ) was a regionally-based newspaper publishing enterprise established in Queensland, Australia on 1 April 1968, lasting for 20 years until it was taken over in 1988 by Australian Provincial Newspapers.

PNQ was created through the amalgamation of six privately owned, regionally-based Queensland newspaper companies which represented multiple generations of family control since 1861. PNQ is recognised as the world's 'oldest continuously owned newspaper proprietorship, stretching over five generations.'

Prior to the formation of the PNQ conglomerate, six Queensland families: the Mannings; Irwins; Dunns; Parkinsons; Stephensons; and Kippens owned several regional newspaper empires, with their combined circulation area stretching from Toowoomba in south-east Queensland to Mackay in central Queensland, spanning the period from 1861 to 1968. The PNQ was an alliance of these established newspaper dynasties designed to expand the families' business interests, limit unhelpful competition and protect locally published newspapers from metropolitan competition and multinational take-overs. At the time of formation, the companies published six dailies and a weekly newspaper. Between 1968 and 1988 the company expanded its publishing activities to include nine daily newspapers in Queensland and four in New South Wales.

The knock-on effect of an Australian government determination that News Limited, through its purchase of the Herald and Weekly Times which in turn owned a significant proportion of PNQ shares, could not control both the major capital city newspaper, The Courier-Mail, plus a majority of country newspapers, meant that PNQ was bought by the Irish media company Haswell Pty Ltd on 26 July 1988, and then onsold on 2 November 1988 to Australian Provincial News and Media Limited Corporation, a subsidiary of APN News & Media Ltd (APN).

From 1968 to 1988, PNQ published local, national and international news through a range of daily, weekly and periodic newspapers in regional areas of Queensland aiming to 'keep readers in touch with the world as well as the local community.' Country newspapers operated in a different readership environment to their metropolitan counterparts. PNQ’s newspapers focused on the local communities in which their newspapers were distributed. The popularity of its newspapers was reflected in the loyalty of the town-based readership which appreciated the availability of local news reporting, community interest editorials and a strong personal allegiance to a home-grown enterprise.

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