Farm Writers Lunch

Friday 30 April

BOOK NOW to secure your seat on Friday April 30 to hear what Australian agricultural and regional media baron, Antony Catalano, plans for the big Australian Community Media network and his thoughts on the future for media services outside our capital cities.

In 2019 Catalano, in partnership with one of Australia’s most successful private investors, Alex Waislitz, paid $125 million for the 171 former Rural Press and Fairfax regional titles and nine print centres which now make up ACM.

His stable of print and digital mastheads includes regional household names across NSW such as The Land, The Newcastle Herald, Illawarra Mercury, Wagga Wagga’s Daily Advertiser, Dubbo’s Daily Liberal, Albury’s Border Mail, the Port Macquarie News, and the Northern Daily Leader at Tamworth.

ACM group also owns The Canberra Times and leading agricultural mastheads in each state.

In a special Farm Writers Q&A forum, the former Australian Financial Review media writer, Max Mason, will quiz Catalano about the outlook for traditional media servicing regional and agricultural Australia; what the print, digital and broadcast world might look like by 2030, and the reliability and availability of information for specialist marketers and rural media consumers in the age of `fake news’.

A former journalist who founded Melbourne’s Metro Media Publishing, eventually printing 1 million magazines a week, Antony Catalano later led the Domain real estate media services partnership with Fairfax Media.

He steered Domain to a $2.3 billion valuation when it floated on the ASX in 2017, then later went on to invest in another property website, Realestate View.

Aside from his ACM interests, he chairs The Today Business media agency, and is executive director at Tomorrow Agency and Media Plus - Australia’s largest real estate focussed creative and media agency.

He also has a stake in the Prime Television network, and owns hotels.

Join us to hear his vision, and ask your own questions, about what’s in the news in the bush.

For any questions, contact bookings@nswfarmwriters.org.au

Corporate Member of the Month:

The Grace and Farm Writers have COVID-safe practices in place, in line with the current guidelines for gatherings in hospitality venues. A full refund will be available should fresh restrictions mean cancelling or switching to a webinar.