Taihape Paper Joins Fairfax Media

MEDIA RELEASE
7 August 2007

Taihape Paper Joins Fairfax Media

The family owned Central Districts Times, a weekly community newspaper based in Taihape, has joined the Fairfax Media publishing stable.

The paper, founded in 1901 and owned by Jim and Marilyn Love, circulates to every home in a wide area of the central North Island, including Ohakune, Waiouru, Mangaweka and Hunterville, an area with a population of 12,000.

In announcing the purchase Fairfax Chief Executive Joan Withers said she was delighted that Jim and Marilyn Love had entrusted their long-standing business with Fairfax.

“Jim and Marilyn have done a wonderful job in ensuring the paper reflects a vibrant and engaged reading community. They have built strong relationships with other businesses, not only through the paper but also with commercial printing services.

“I am pleased that Jim has agreed to stay on and manage the paper for us,” Joan Withers said. “We are planning for a seamless transition of ownership from the beginning of September.”

Jim Love said Fairfax and the Times are working to achieve a smooth and seamless changeover and intend to ensure clients and readers notice very little difference in the service and product they have come to expect over many years.

“It has been a privilege to provide an essential service in the form of a vehicle which has proven to be the lifeblood and heartbeat of our vibrant community. We feel that the changeover will be a force for good, providing, as it will, a strong support for our staff, the latest in IT training and expertise, commercial printing services and an excellent newspaper that Taihape can still be proud to call our own.

“We feel our baby will pass into competent and caring hands and that our people will benefit as a result,” Mr Love said.

The paper will join the Manawatu Standard’s group of community newspapers which includes Palmerston North’s Tribune, the Feilding Herald and the Rangitikei Mail.

Manawatu Standard General Manager Gerard Watt welcomed the announcement and said he looked forward to working with Mr Love to develop the business.

Taihape, a town established in the late 1880s between the Ruahine Ranges and Mt Ruapehu, is largely an agricultural service town but has a growing role in tourism, being a base for skiing, game hunting, fishing and bungy jumping.

ENDS

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