About South Eastern Times

South Eastern Times

The South Eastern Times is a newspaper established in Millicent, South Australia in 1891, advertised on its masthead as covering the area which includes Millicent, Robe, Beachport, Tantanoola, Kalangadoo and Southend. After 129 years of publishing, however, the newspaper — along with sister publication The Pennant — was discontinued on 21 August 2020 — the COVID closure, after 129 years. In March 2022 the newspaper was relaunched by TBW Today Pty Ltd after an 18-month hiatus — the Times, back in print, after the COVID closure. It is a paid publication, published Friday and online 24/7.

Overview

Millicent is the service town of the lower South East — the paperbark town of the drained swamps, the timber town, the fishing town, the farming town, the town of the Tantanoola tiger and the paperbark forests. The South Eastern Times has serviced Millicent and the surrounding region since 1891 — 135 years of the town's paper. The region is rich with a variety of agriculture, fishing, forestry, and tourism: the blue gums, the crayfish, the dairying, the vines, the beaches of Beachport and Robe — the lower South East, in the Times. The Today News Group's 2026 facts sheet describes it as "Millicent's first choice for local news" and "the region's most popular community newspaper" — the relaunched Times, the district's paper again.

History

The Millicent Times, 1891

A weekly paper named the Millicent Times was founded in July 1891 by Roland Campbell — a grocer who had finished school at 10, managed the family farm at 11, become a farm labourer, a builder, a news correspondent for The Border Watch and a store keeper: the country paper's founder, in the classic mould — the grocer, the farmer, the builder, the correspondent, the store keeper, the printer. Running his own store, Campbell purchased and repaired an old printing press; his first newspaper was bedded down on 10 July 1891, and a single broadsheet, The Millicent Times, was on the streets the following day — 11 July 1891. It was taken over in 1894 by his brother Donald Campbell, who eventually became an MP — the paper's founder's brother, the future parliamentarian. Donald's left-of-centre editorials were not appreciated in the rural community, and there was a threat to tar and feather him — the country paper's editor, in trouble with his readers — the tar-and-feather threat, in print.

The South Eastern Times, 1906

The Campbells severed connection with the paper in 1901. It was taken over by a consortium of businessmen led by Henrich Wilhelm Altschwager, and in 1906 given a new title — the South Eastern Times — though the old name persisted, at least colloquially. The first managing editor was J. C. Harper of Woodend, Victoria, who left for Broken Hill in 1907 to manage the Barrier Truth. It became, like its competitor The Border Watch, a twice-weekly publication. Reuben Cranstoun Mowbray, who had recently arrived from Gippsland, Victoria to take a position as reporter, became editor. He became the major shareholder, then in 1921 sole owner. In 1952 Mowbray left, selling the business to the newspaper's staff — a partnership which included Sidney McRostie and Robert Chewings. Bob Chewings became editor following Reuben Mowbray and remained in the role until his retirement in 1989.

The McRosties and the Scotts

The McRostie family were the proprietors from 1989 until 2006: in May 1989, the three McRostie brothers — Michael, John and Paul — and their wives bought the business from their father and Robert Chewings. From December 1990 until May 1994, the Times also published the South East Farming News. In 2006 the business was sold to Allan Scott. Scott died in 2008, and the business remained in the family as part of The Border Watch Media Group. The newspaper ceased publication in August 2020, a casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic's advertising collapse — the 129-year run ended, until the relaunch.

The TBW Today relaunch, 2022

The masthead was purchased and relaunched in 2022 by TBW Today Pty Ltd, owned by a group of experienced newspaper publishers — the masthead's second life — the Times, relaunched, the lower South East's paper again. The first issues of the relaunched papers were released on 31 March 2022 — the Times and its sister publication the Penola Pennant, back in print together, after 18 months away — and the lower South East had its papers back. The newspaper is once again an essential local voice of the people and marketing tool for local and national businesses — the Times, back in the town's shops and letterboxes, the lower South East's paper again — always, the Times, forever.

Content

The South Eastern Times covers the Millicent district agenda: the agriculture, the fishing, the forestry and the tourism — the four pillars of the lower South East's economy; the politics of the lower South East — roads, health services, water, the Wattle Range Council's business; and the community life of Millicent, Robe, Beachport, Tantanoola, Kalangadoo and Southend — the towns the masthead has named since 1891 — Millicent, Robe, Beachport, Tantanoola, Kalangadoo and Southend, always. The paper's sections include Real Estate, Motoring, Home, Education, Computer, Finance, Travel, Livestock, Gardening, Fishing and Farming — the country paper's sections, from the farm to the home, from the paddock to the computer. Sport coverage emphasises Australian rules football, netball and cricket — the lower South East's Saturday leagues, and the Friday paper's record of the weekend's results. Council affairs, courts, schools and community events round out the offering — the Wattle Range Council, the courts, the schools and the fetes, all in the Friday paper.

Coverage and Audience

The paper's circulation list runs to Millicent, Southend, Tantanoola, Kalangadoo, Furner, Hatherleigh, Beachport, Rendelsham, Glencoe, Nangwarry, Kingston and Robe — the lower South East's towns, the coast and the hinterland, from the Coorong's edge to the Victorian border. The Today News Group's 2026 facts sheet reports a weekly total audience of 7,188, with 4,104 print/digital edition readers and 751 weekly website page views. Its readers are the district's farmers, fishers and foresters, the towns' businesses and families, and the coast's holidaymakers — the lower South East's paper, every Friday, the paper the district has read since 1891.

Ownership

The South Eastern Times is published by TBW Today Pty Ltd, owned by a group of experienced newspaper publishers — the company that bought the Times and the Pennant mastheads and returned them to print in March 2022. Its ownership lineage runs from Roland and Donald Campbell (1891) through Henrich Wilhelm Altschwager's consortium, Reuben Cranstoun Mowbray, the staff partnership of Sidney McRostie and Robert Chewings, the McRostie family, and Allan Scott's Border Watch Media Group to TBW Today Pty Ltd (2022).

Digital Presence

The paper is a paid publication, published Friday and online 24/7, with a website and social media channels for Millicent news and reader engagement — the Times in print on Fridays, and the Times online every day — the paid publication, published Friday and online 24/7. Its archive — from 11 July 1891 to the present, with the 18-month hiatus of 2020–2022 — documents the lower South East's transformation from the 19th-century swamp frontier to the farming, fishing and forestry country of today — the Campbells' broadsheet, the Mowbray years, the McRosties' stewardship, the COVID closure, and the TBW Today relaunch, week by week, for 135 years.