Page 66 - Print 21 Magazine Jul-Aug 2020

Newspapers
Torch shining brightly
for community newspapers
Local newspaper the Canterbury Bankstown Torch
is celebrating its 100th anniversary in print, is still in print, and remains in the hands of the founder’s family.
In the midst of the Covid carnage that swept through print, one of the more heartening tales concerned the Canterbury Bankstown Torch.
The newspaper returned to print following a seven-week shutdown that began when an ad sales rep contracted Covid-19.
With recent developments, you could be forgiven for thinking that the era of the community newspaper is over. For the past 210 years since the first Derwent Advertiser was published, community and regional newspapers have been at the heart of Australian life. They have been laying out in print the good, the bad, and the ugly of towns across the country.
However, the past two months have seen hundreds of titles closed down, or in many cases moved online, with little chance of a return to ink on paper. The majority of those newspapers though are owned by the two big players: ACM – with the portfolio it bought for Fairfax for $125m – and News Corp – which includes the Cumberland papers and the former APN regional papers for which it paid $36m in 2016.
Some smaller publishers too have had to furlough their printed editions, Elliot Newspaper Group said all its mastheads in Victoria would cease printing, including the Sunraysia Life (Mildura), The Guardian (Swan Hill), the Loddon Times (Loddon Mallee) and the world-famous Gannawarra Times.
However, it is not all doom and gloom in the world of community newspapers, with the aptly named Canterbury Bankstown Torch newspaper back in print and about to celebrate its centenary.
The rep fully recovered, but because he had been in the building the whole team had to go into isolation, although all returned negative tests. The first post-Covid issues of the weekly paper have now been printed.
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Bucking the trend of community newspapers closing, owner John Engisch says he has no plans to move to online only, as the paper prepares to celebrate its 100th year in print. He said, “As long as there is a community that wants the paper we will publish it.”
The Torch was established on 12 June 1920 by John’s grandfather Leslie Alexander Engish, then John’s father Philip Engisch worked on it for 51 years, now John’s sons, Trent and Christian, are taking up the reins. In 100 years the Torch has
had just five editors – that is what is known as stability.
It was co-owned by the Engisch family and Fairfax for almost half
a century, Bob Lockley was on the Board, until Fairfax decided it either wanted full ownership or nothing, so the Engisch family bought them out.
Until two years ago the group, which also includes the Auburn Review and the Inner West Times,
ran its own press hall, but its papers are now printed at the ACM North Richmond plant, formerly Rural Press. John Engisch said, “Our press was 20 years old, and still in great condition, but spare electronics became impossible to get hold of, so we made the decision to contract out our printing.”
“As long as there is a community that wants the paper we will publish it.”
– John Engisch
The group’s press was printing
all its newspapers and a number
of other jobs, Engisch says, “It was running 24 hours a day most of the time.” Those other jobs have included emergency editions of the Sydney Morning Herald and various issues of the Australian Financial Review.
The company is now preparing for its future by knocking down its former press hall and building
a whole new building on its site, which will also house 34 industrial units, and ensure the future of the business. Engisch is surprisingly ambiguous about print, he says, “We will produce the Torch on whatever platform people want, we have always been in print, we have been online for a number of years now. We will continue to print for as long as people want it.”
Perhaps this is the future for community newspapers, bring run by local community people, rather than the publishing behemoths and private equity funds. Engisch says, “My sons both live in Canterbury Bankstown, and we have always insisted that the editor of the paper similarly lives in the area. Then the issues that are relevant to them are relevant to the local community and vice versa.”
Being in business for 100 years
is no mean feat, and especially in the rough and tumble newspaper business, hearty congratulations are due to the Engisch family for their remarkable achievement. 21
Above
Back in print: Torch newspapers