The decision comes after News Corp announced on 1 April it was temporarily halting printing of around 60 community newspapers and is expected to cost hundreds of jobs.

The company said the bulk of its regional and local papers would shift to digital-only publishing by 29 June, with 76 papers moving online and 35 other titles closing permanently.

The move echoes a global trend in the troubled media industry, as falling readerships and the continued rise of Google and Facebook eats into media advertising revenues.

News Corp Australia executive chairman Michael Miller said the permanent changes had been brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, which had impacted the sustainability of local publishing.