With Australia’s four biggest newspaper publishers rejoicing in the news that advertising sales only went backwards by 0.6 per cent last year, it’s always good to see new publications being launched. Even small ones: So the arrival of issue one of the glossy tabloid ‘Coasting’ – albeit little more than a hushed ‘plop’ on my Avoca Beach doorstep – was welcome. Curious, and with neither dateline nor publisher’s imprint on it I called the advertising number to learn more. The cheery response was ‘Sun Weekly’ ... but not for long: As GXpress was closing for print, local media reported that the Fairfax freesheet had ceased publication, and the phone was now answered ‘Coasting’. Win one, lose one! The 24-page heatset product (printed at Rural Press North Richmond) is a stark contrast to the thud of its predecessor ... at least in its heyday. There’s potentially a market for a local lifestyle title but this one needs to shape up a bit before it can do battle with the slick Cumberland biweekly. The sure touch of the Fairfax art department wouldn't hurt, either. Perhaps that’s the reason for the low-profile launch: Get it right before you put your name on it? Last time Fairfax pitched a new product here (the ‘Central Coast Herald’, which folded in 2002) it lived to regret it. Fairfax’s Kieren O’Toole tells me the newbie’s 35,000 circulation has been restricted to bulk drops at points such as retail and entertainment centres, plus limited door-to-door distribution. Next issues are planned for June and August, “with a view to going monthly”. He couldn’t talk about the demise of the weekly, and the number he gave me for comment urged me to send an email instead. But every little helps: The national advertising sales figures I mentioned – published paradoxically, on April 1 – came from Fairfax, News, APN and West Australian Newspapers and totalled a little over $4 billion. They show a 2.1 per cent increase in retail advertising in newspapers, and come in stark contrast to the falls of 12 and almost 18 per cent recorded in the UK and USA in 2008. On Fairfax still, I couldn’t help but be impressed by my second visit to Border Mail Printing. It’s a clean, well run site which speaks loudly of the culture of staff involvement and pride. And the industrial productivity of the Goss Uniliner S supports the courageous decision of the then privately-owned business to install the first press of its kind, half a world away from the factory. And what a contrast to what went before: The Urbanite press which when I first wrote about the plant 20 years ago, was about to be extended by additional units which were waiting in a nearby paddock... And the old Wharfedale flatbed letterpress included in Damian Balkin’s SWUG presentation. Apparently there is still one in Chiltern, Victoria (and perhaps another in Penrith) although the press at the ‘Border Mail’ was succeeded by Cossars and a Hoe rotary. Now there’s a memory: As a kid, I remember the gas-engined Wharfedale which stood as back-up at the weekly newspaper my father was running in the UK. He reckoned he was better welding the L&M Centurette back together when it broke, and scrapped it. Then came a 1930s rotary from the Bristol ‘Evening Post’ ... which I got to scrap to make room for a Goss Community. But don’t get me started again! Symptom of the parlous state of the UK newspaper industry is the sad demise of the country’s journalism bible, ‘UK Press Gazette’ which ceased print and online publication in the middle of April. According to reports, it had 2500 subscribers each paying £115 ($235) a year, and 150,000 unique users online, but having been rescued from administration in 2006 still couldn’t find a business model to support itself. And yes, I recall its first appearance, 40-odd years ago, as a letterpress-printed oversize A4 with a glossy cover, and refreshingly independent content. The technical ground is still covered by ‘Production Journal’, produced under contract for publishers’ association The Newspaper Society. It’s ironic that my last thorough visit to the ‘Press Gazette’ website was to check out reports that the Kent Messenger Group – to which I had sold a cluster of community newspapers 22 years ago – was also closing offices and editions. Ah, the wonders of Google! A local PR spruik who sent me a story about a new digital newspaper printing site near Madrid, apologised for not having been able to find out any more about the company involved. When I did my own research, I noticed a remarkable similarity between the text of his press release and Google’s halting automatic translation of the Spanish on the company’s website. Google invites users to ‘suggest’ a better translation, so hopefully the trawl engine which is a very regular visitor to our website will pick up our version! Not yet a year old, we’re proud to have that gxpress.net website as a major driver for GXpress, winning friends in geographic markets we can’t viably reach with our print edition, and doing so on a 24-hour basis. The last few weeks have seen more excitement with the launch of e-newsletter which – along with an RSS feed facility – makes it easier to access news from our site. The response is not only hugely encouraging, but gives us a clear idea of what our website visitors find interesting. With (very) limited people-resources, we’ve always chosen to tread cautiously, some way back from the ‘bleeding edge’ of technology about which we write. And as all these things take time, you’ll be relieved to know that there won’t be any ‘twitters’ from the GXpress desk anytime soon! Need a moment’s relief in these tense and troubled times? A UK website makes a game of newspaper production by presenting the challenge of printing 2.4 million newspapers in a single shift, keeping the presses running ... and everyone happy. Hosted by Britain’s Science Museum, it’s appropriately called the Printing Works Chaos game, and I’m obliged to UK PR company Bespoke – which looks after Goss International – for the news. You’ll find the link on our website. Amanda Meade, who writes the media diary in the ‘Australian’ was obviously amused by an memo issued to print staff at the Tai Po site of Hong Kong’s ‘South China Morning Post’. It reads, “This is to inform that the 2 panties on 3/F Taipo office will be demolished on 7 March 2009 for the relocation/renovation project. Please remove any personal items in these 2 panties by 6 March 2009 including any personal appliances”. The headline – ‘Edible pantries?’ – gives the game away.