Why should you care who owns the Fraser Coast Chronicle?

Because they also own The Observer (Gladstone) and The Morning Bulletin (Rockhampton). And daily newspapers on the Sunshine Coast, in Mackay, Bundaberg, Gympie, Ipswich, Warwick and Toowoomba, along with dozens of free community papers.

And all those papers will soon be owned by one family: the Murdochs. Just like the vast majority of large-scale newsrooms across the country. Including The Courier-Mail across Queensland. APN News & Media has confirmed the sale of its Australian Regional Media business to News Corporation — subject to shareholder and, importantly, regulatory approval.

There were only two bids for ARM, not surprisingly; nothing much adds up in print-based media, especially in rural and regional areas. So don’t expect the competition watchdog to say much.

Which leaves Murdoch to save the day, reaching his liver-spotted hand even further into Australian society, strangling the diversity of reporting and opinion to asphyxiation.

There’s only one winner in the decline of the news media business in Australia. The rest of us are losers.