| Owner | MediaView |
|---|---|
| Founder | Greg Evans |
| Publisher | Media View |
| Editor | Troy Dodds |
| Founded | 1991 |
| Language | English |
| Headquarters | Suite 2, 42-44 Abel Street Jamisontown NSW NSW 2750 |
| Circulation | 58,877 weekly |
| Sister newspapers | Inner City Weekender |
| OCLC number | 222030802 |
| Official website | http://www.westernweekender.com.au/ |
The Western Weekender is a local newspaper servicing the region of Penrith, New South Wales. It is the most widely distributed newspaper in Penrith[1]
The Western Weekender is an independent newspaper, owned by MediaView. MediaView purchased the newspaper in March 2009. Prior to this, The Western Weekender was published by the TriMedia Group.
The Western Weekender was first published in 1991.
It is issued on Fridays.
Contents |
The Western Weekender is a sectionalised newspaper. The newspaper currently runs the following sections: "News, Business, Lifestyle, Property, Auto and Sport."'.
Entertainment is run as a separate insert, called FYI.
Discontinued sections include: "View, Chill Out"
The Western Weekender has a team of full-time and part-time journalists, as well as columnists.
Columnists include: Peter Overton (Opinion), Tom Steinfort (Opinion), Michael Todd (Business), Damian Smith (Business), Michelle Grice (Business), Francis Bevan (Stars), Stacey Moseley (Fashion), John Lavender (Religion), Anthony Walker (Finance), David Stein (Fitness), Sandra Cabot (Health), Monty Panesar (Cricket) and David Landrigan (Auto).
The Western Weekender has a strong connection to rugby league. It is a major sponsor of the Penrith Panthers NRL team, and previously had naming rights of the St Marys Leagues Club Stadium. It runs the biggest rugby league coverage in the Penrith area. The newspaper has not avoided controversy surrounding its rugby league coverage, however, and in the book 'Panthers, Passion & Politics', there is numerous references to the way the newspaper covered an inquiry into the club.[2]
The Western Weekender newspaper collapsed in 2008. It was widely reported that the collapse of the Sydney Spirit National Basketball Team was the cause of the newspaper's collapse.[3] Both were owned by the same company. The paper fell into receivership and published for what appeared to be the final time in January 2009. Two months later, The Western Weekender was revived under new ownership - Media View Pty Ltd. Troy Dodds was appointed as its new Editor, the first in a raft of changes to the publication.
The Western Weekender expanded in 2010 to feature two new major initiatives. In the first, it separated its entertainment section from the newspaper itself, moving to an inserted magazine and labelling it "FYI". The magazine ranges in size from 16 to 24 pages and features primarily local entertainment content. Also in 2010, The Inner City Weekender was launched, covering the LGA of Marrickville. In 2011, The Western Weekender launched a gloss rugby league magazine, called "Extra Time"