Miner changes to build great Times

Introducing The Ballarat Times News Group to town!

After fourteen years of service to the community as The Miner today marks a significant day in free community news coverage.

The change to the Ballarat Times News Group comes after The Miner was recently acquired by regional publishing company Times News Group who see Ballarat as a growing region, with a demand and a thirst for free trusted local content.

Times News Group publisher Fred Scharkosi said he was proud to add the Ballarat Times News Group to the company’s roster of seven publications in regional Victoria.

“We have great experience in servicing unique communities and joining with The Miner was a natural fit,” Mr Scharkosi said. “We know we can do great work here and look forward building on what has been created.”

Established in 2004 as The Golden Plains Miner by Alan Marini and Debbie Kollarik, the paper grew to simply become the community focused The Miner.

The Ballarat Times News Group will still bring the same community focused reporting and Mr Marini will remain with the paper as a journalist but behind the curtain, the Times News Group is investing heavily in local community journalism.

The paper will still be produced in Ballarat, by local reporters, photographers and editorial staff and will continue to be printed in town.

That investment will enable the Ballarat Times News Group to grow further, with more local content that readers want to see. It also provides small to medium business with an affordable advertising vehicle that is accessible to everyone Free online and Free in hardcopy. While other publishers are putting up paywalls, we find that ‘local in the new global’ when it comes to knowing what is happening in our own backyards.

Ballarat Mayor Samantha McIntosh was positive about the change.

“It’s always healthy to have a wide range of media outlets in a community like ours, we welcome the Ballarat Times News Group as a fresh new edition in the Ballarat media landscape,” she said.

Todays Edition also brings the Inaugural free weekly gloss real estate guide My Ballarat Home, with our new Go Auto section backing onto it … with all the latest homes for sale in town, and a car guide so you can hit the dealerships early on Saturday to purchase your new car! Both of these now found in one convenient location for Ballarat.

From today the Ballarat Times News Group is over 21,000 free copies which are available to the public, more copies than any other publisher in town and they are available at over 200 bulk drop locations. From 4th October parts of Ballarat will be home delivered.

The Ballarat Times News Group is also available online in digital format at timesnewsgroup.com.au