The Western Weekender is a local newspaper

Newspaper

A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...

 servicing the region of Penrith, New South Wales

Penrith, New South Wales

Penrith is a suburb in western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Penrith is located west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government area of the City of Penrith...

. It is the most widely distributed newspaper in Penrith

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.

Editorial format

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"

Journalists & Columnists

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).

Rugby League

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.

2008 collapse and 2009 revival

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. 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.

Expansion

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"