Hyperlocal News folds five Melbourne mastheads into The Melburnian

Independent publisher Hyperlocal News is bringing five Melbourne community newspapers under one banner with the launch of The Melburnian.

CBD News, Southbank News, Docklands News, Inner City News and North West City News are being consolidated into the new free monthly masthead, which launches on Wednesday, 9 September with a planned circulation of 80,000 copies across the City of Melbourne.

READ MORE: ACM announces launch of Melbourne based the Inner East ReView

READ MORE: Not dead yet! Four new print ventures entering the publishing scene

Five mastheads become one

The consolidation extends beyond print. Hyperlocal News says the five existing publication websites, which currently attract a combined 180,000 monthly visitors, will be brought together as one digital news platform.

The broader publishing operation will also include an existing email audience, social media channels and the Future Melbourne podcast.

Hyperlocal News owner Sean Car said the move was intended to build a stronger citywide platform without abandoning the publisher’s local focus.

“The Melburnian gives us the opportunity to take that local publishing experience and build a stronger independent media platform for the City of Melbourne and its many residents, businesses, students and visitors,” Car said.

“Perhaps most importantly, this change does not reduce our local news focus. Our communities will continue to receive the same dedicated reporting they have come to expect from us, now under a single citywide news service across print and digital.”

More than two decades of local publishing

The publishing group traces its roots to Docklands News, launched in 2003 by the late publisher and editor Shane Scanlan.

By 2019, Car had taken ownership of Hyperlocal News, which at the time published Docklands News, Southbank Local News and CBD News. The network subsequently expanded its coverage across more of the City of Melbourne before the decision to consolidate the five mastheads.

What readers will get

Hyperlocal News expects each edition of The Melburnian to run to about 40 pages, with location markers maintaining dedicated coverage of precincts including the CBD, Southbank, Docklands, Carlton, East Melbourne, Parkville, North Melbourne, West Melbourne and Kensington.

The newspaper will also carry sections covering real estate and property, food and lifestyle, and events across the city.

Copies will be delivered to businesses and apartment buildings throughout the City of Melbourne during the second week of each month, with additional distribution through public newsstands, supermarkets, convenience stores, cafés, restaurants, bars and hotels.