the operations of PNQ and 'worked together harmoniously and profitably for nigh on a generation' to ensure the success of the newspaper empire. Prior to the PNQ amalgamation, Andrew Dunn - the ‘man who initiated the first chain of provincial newspapers in Queensland’ - implemented three fundamental principles to ‘guarantee’ the success of the PNQ merger. The three principles were established to ‘ensure’ protection from the expected metropolitan newspaper takeover attempts. They were: That any organisation set up must ensure as far as possible that the present independence of the provincial press was maintained and consolidated; That any organisation set up must as far as possible, consistent with other principles, preserve the status quo especially in regard to families; and That any organisation set up must be such that listing of at least part of the shares on the Stock Exchange was possible in the immediate future. By following these principles, PNQ was successful for several years in providing an integral public service to regional Queensland by offering a free press that attempted to reflect the community conscience. The publication of community interest stories, a focus on regional policies and societal advancement within the regional publications secured a following and the close involvement of their community audiences. Financial success followed the establishment of the PNQ enterprise moving from an 'annual net profit [of] $317,000 in 1968 to $681,000 in 1975, $1,919,000 in 1980, $4,510,000 in 1985. In 1987–88, its final year of operation as PNQ, the profit was $4 million. PNQ’S Day-To-Day Operations There were three key functions involved in the day-to-day operations of the PNQ which were central to comprehending the inner workings of this organisation: news collecting and reporting, newspaper formatting and production and the physical distribution and circulation of these newspapers. Additionally, these three functions provided the context within which to consider, and the reasons behind, many family newspaper dynasties amalgamating to form Queensland's largest provincial newspaper group, PNQ, in 1968. In the pre-digital age, collection and reporting of local area news, commercial and event-based information, together with national and international news, provided the necessary impetus for local newspaper creation in response to a strong local consumer demand. However, to enable timely and cost-effective newspaper production and distribution, each local newspaper's content, format and print run was constrained by the availability of local skilled labour and the production ability of its news presses. These matters influenced broadsheet