About Warwick Today

Warwick Today

Overview

Warwick Today is a weekly newspaper serving Warwick and the northern Southern Downs district of Queensland, published in print and online by Star News Group as part of its Queensland "Today" stable of independent regional newspapers. It is the Warwick masthead of a joint Southern Downs newsroom it shares with its sister paper, Stanthorpe Today: the two titles are genuinely distinct newspapers with their own print editions, websites and local reporting, produced by a shared team based in Warwick. Warwick Today covers the town of Warwick and the surrounding townships and farming country of the northern half of the Southern Downs Regional Council area, including Allora, Killarney and the villages between them.

The paper serves a district whose economy rests on agriculture — cattle, sheep, grain, hay and horticulture in the Condamine River valley — together with the services, schools, health facilities and events of Warwick, the Southern Downs' largest centre. Article-tracking records and industry registers confirm the paper was publishing current local journalism through 2026.

History

Warwick Today's immediate predecessor was the Southern Free Times, a free weekly published by Star News Group covering both Warwick and Stanthorpe. The district's historic paid newspaper, the Warwick Daily News, had lost its print edition in News Corp Australia's June 2020 regional restructure, when News Corp made dozens of regional titles digital-only, leaving Warwick without a printed daily newspaper of its own.

Star News Group moved quickly when the 2020 closures were announced: industry journal GXpress reported in June 2020 that Star's Paul Thomas — identified there as the owner of Noosa Today and Warwick's Southern Free Times — was already fielding approaches from communities wanting local print newspapers restored, and Star had returned Noosa Today to print within days of News Corp ending the Noosa News print edition. In February 2021 Star News Group split the Southern Free Times into two mastheads, creating Warwick Today for Warwick and Stanthorpe Today for Stanthorpe and the Granite Belt. The Public Interest Journalism Initiative's Australian Newsroom Mapping Project recorded the change in its August 2021 report, classifying the two titles as an increase in service formed out of the demerger of the Southern Free Times. An April 2021 Country Press Australia authorisation application likewise lists "Warwick Today/Stanthorpe Today" under Star News Group at 24 Palmerin Street, Warwick.

The new title was part of the broader expansion in which Star News Group and its Today News Group partners re-established independent print newspapers in Queensland markets where News Corp had withdrawn from print in 2020. By late 2021, Today News Group was describing markets including Rockhampton, Gladstone, Bundaberg, Gympie, Burnett, Noosa, Ipswich, Warwick and Stanthorpe among those where it had successfully restarted local independent newspapers, reassembling teams of journalists made redundant by News Corp into its hyperlocal model. The joint newsroom's journalists have been recognised within the industry: at the Queensland Country Press Association's 2022 Media Excellence Awards, Dominique Tassell of Warwick & Stanthorpe Today placed third for Young Journalist of the Year for a portfolio covering controversial issues and human-interest stories across the community.

Programming and Content

Warwick Today's reporting is centred on the Southern Downs Regional Council and the rural industries of the Warwick district. Its journalists report council meetings and decisions — including the long-running debate over Warwick's water security and treatment infrastructure, with the council seeking state funding in 2026 for a phased upgrade of the Warwick Water Treatment Plant, a new reservoir and a distribution centre — alongside courts, schools, health services and emergency services. Rural coverage reflects the district's economy of beef cattle, sheep, grain and fodder production, saleyards and field days, and extends to the renewable-energy projects reshaping the region, including the MacIntyre Wind Farm precinct south-west of Warwick.

Community life fills out the edition: the Warwick Rodeo and its New Year's Eve fixture, the Jumpers and Jazz in July winter festival, CelticFest, school events and local sport. Article-tracking services record the range of its recent reporting, from bushfire-risk warnings as the district dried out after wet years, to coverage of the aftermath of a fatal accident at the New Year's Eve rodeo, the first baby of the year born at Stanthorpe hospital to Tenterfield parents, and lighter features such as a professional monster-truck driver's appearance at Warwick's Monstertruck Muster. Reporters identified with the title in tracking records include Leonie Fuge, whose byline appears across its Warwick reporting.

Audience and Reach

Warwick Today is Warwick's own printed newspaper, circulating in the town and across the northern Southern Downs, a local government area of approximately 37,000 people whose main townships are Warwick, Stanthorpe, Killarney and Allora. No independently audited circulation figure for the individual title has been published. At group level, the Today newspapers' publishers claimed in 2021 that more than 30,000 copies were distributed through Today newspapers and strategic drop-off points across Queensland; that figure is the group's own, dates from 2021, and is not a Warwick-specific number.

Digital Presence

Warwick Today publishes online at warwicktoday.com.au, the content link recorded for the title on the Australian Communications and Media Authority's register of eligible news businesses. Because the paper is produced from the joint Southern Downs newsroom, its stories appear on that platform alongside Stanthorpe Today's, and the same story may also appear under the sister title's domain, stanthorpetoday.com.au. Article-tracking services record Warwick Today stories through 2025 and into 2026, covering council decisions, rural issues, emergency incidents and community events, and the paper maintains a social media presence through which its stories are promoted.

Ownership and Organisation

Warwick Today is owned by Star News Group Pty Ltd, the independent, family-owned publishing company headquartered at Pakenham in Victoria. The group grew from the Berwick Shire News and the Pakenham and Cranbourne Gazette, founded in 1909 by Albert Edward Thomas, and is led by managing director Paul Thomas, the fourth generation of the family to run the company; Thomas has spoken publicly of his commitment to the role of the local newspaper in its community and to nurturing and growing the titles the group acquires. On the ACMA register of eligible news businesses, Star News Group Pty Ltd's registered news sources include Warwick Today, Stanthorpe Today and Noosa Today among 17 newspaper mastheads, with the group's managing director Paul Thomas — a fourth-generation newspaperman — recorded as the contact; the registration is dated 6 January 2026. In 2024 the group extended further when ACM sold it a portfolio of non-core regional mastheads. The Queensland Today titles operate with the support of Star News Group's shared production, technology and administrative services under the Today News Group model, while editorial content is produced locally. Warwick Today is produced from the joint Southern Downs newsroom recorded at 24 Palmerin Street, Warwick, in the group's 2021 industry filings, with journalists working across the Warwick and Stanthorpe titles. Country Press Australia's submission to the federal News Bargaining Incentive consultation also lists Warwick Today among the country's independent regional newspapers.

Contact and Availability

Warwick Today is published weekly in print for Warwick and the northern Southern Downs and continuously online at warwicktoday.com.au. The Southern Downs newsroom address recorded for the Warwick and Stanthorpe titles is 24 Palmerin Street, Warwick, Queensland. The paper remains a registered news source of Star News Group on the ACMA register dated January 2026, and article-tracking records show it publishing current local journalism into 2026.