Newsagents and their communities defiant in the face of COVID-19 this National Newsagent Week

Join newsagents in their nationwide celebration this National Newsagent Week, 19ᵗʰ-26ᵗʰ September
2020

Australia, 16 September 2020: The Australian Lottery and Newsagents Association (ALNA) is
celebrating newsagents across the country during National Newsagent Week (NNW) 2020, in recognition
of the tenacity and strength they’ve exhibited throughout the pandemic.

There are over 4000 independent, family-owned news and lottery agents in Australia. An industry
which employs more than 20,000 people with a turnover of $6 billion.

From the 19ᵗʰ – 26ᵗʰ September, the campaign themed ‘community’ will drive greater awareness and
recognition of the essential contributions of your local newsagent to their community in the face
of the COVID-19 pandemic, and celebrate their evolution.

Ben Kearney, CEO, ALNA said: “Newsagents across the country have found renewed impetus to serve
communities in need, during our year in crisis. They have kept customers and the community informed
and entertained in isolation, locally and nationally. We want to use National Newsagent Week to
celebrate the phenomenal service our newsagents have delivered and continue to deliver, responding
to the needs of many individuals and families impacted by COVID-19.

During the pandemic, newsagents have played a vital role in keeping Australian’s informed, as well
as providing necessary supplies for communities who have found themselves working and learning from
home. Newsagents have become crucial providers of everyday supplies for activities, including
jigsaw puzzles, magazines and cards to send to loved ones we can no longer see in person.

“As shoppers are driven to stay confined in their local areas, newsagents have become the beating
heart of the community, helping their local community to survive and thrive during the crisis. We
invite all Australians to join us and our key partners to celebrate the significance of our local
newsagents within our local community during the second annual National Newsagent Week.”

Peter Strong, CEO of the Council of Small Business of Australia, said: “Newsagents are a shining
example of how small businesses around Australia are tackling challenging economic conditions head
on. They’ve successfully managed to adapt to a constantly shifting landscape, and have shown
resilience, strength, and tenacity in order to continue to support their local communities.

“Small businesses do more than sell a product or service – they help to build local communities.
Small businesses contribute to a third of our economic activity, keep millions of Australians in
jobs and are responsible for paying wages to more than half of our workforce. They are vital to our
everyday lives – especially now, as our country faces the long road to economic recovery. We can
all support small businesses by choosing to GO LOCAL FIRST.”

As part of the week-long celebrations, and in recognition of more than 38 million magazine sales
generated from newsagents annually, leading magazine publishers and Ovato Retail Distribution are
uniting to support National Newsagent week. Spearheaded by Bauer Media, magazine publishers
DCThompson, Genera, Just Media, Lovatt’s Media, Marketforce, NewsLifeMedia, Next Media, Puzzler Media Australia, Seymour, Universal and Yaffa Media have joined forces to launch an initiative offering customers the chance to enter a draw and win $50,000 from now until the conclusion of National Newsagent Week.

Australia’s leading lottery and entertainment group, Tabcorp and global news distributor, Newscorp
will also partner for the week-long celebration to offer a joint scratch-it and newspaper offer.
This will give consumers the chance to win one of eight $5,000 cash prizes and one grand prize of
$20,000, when a newspaper and $5 scratch-it card are purchased together, across selected regional
newspaper, titles.*

Additionally, ALNA is partnering with hunger relief charity, Foodbank, and Australia’s leading
media, marketing and printing company, Ovato, for an in-store community fundraising campaign which
will see customers able to purchase exclusive Foodbank tickets, which will allow customers to make
a cash donation to the value of meal equivalent. The partnership with Foodbank will live beyond
National Newsagent Week, to provide much-needed food relief to Australian communities.

“We’re grateful to have the support of our partners and the community, as we recognise the enduring
and essential role of the thousands of small businesses that we represent. While our newsagents’
offerings will continue to evolve, they will continue to offer members of their local communities
two things that cannot always be offered online: community and convenience,” concluded Kearney.

 

For further information, interviews and images, please contact:
Phoebe Netto, Pure Public Relations on 0401 036 610 or [email protected]

About Australian Lottery and Newsagents Association (ALNA)
The Australian Lottery and Newsagents Association (ALNA) is the peak national industry body for
Australia’s newsagents and lottery agents. Representing a significant part of the Australian
economy, ALNA advocates for the largest non-franchised family owned business sector in Australia.

* Participating newspapers: (exclude WA) NSW: The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Telegraph. VIC:
Herald Sun, Sunday Herald Sun, Geelong Advertiser. QLD: The Courier-Mail, The Sunday Mail, Gold
Coast Bulletin, Cairns Post, Townsville Bulletin (possibly Toowoomba
T News, Sunday Territorian TAS: The
Mercury, Sunday Tasmanian