of The Port Denison Times in March 1864. Nashville (Gympie) In February 1868, The Nashville Times was first published as a ‘biweekly to serve the fortune-hunting thousands who had swarmed to the Gympie Creek gold diggings.’ As the neighbouring towns of Clermont and Nashville were developed with a mining focus, these two towns were the ‘exception … to the rule of development inspired by pastoral expansion.’ Townsville (Cleveland Bay) The continued expansion of Queensland frontiers led to the establishment of Townsville's first newspaper, The Cleveland Bay Express, in 1866. Later in 1876, The Townsville Herald was introduced and The Northern Standard soon followed. Mackay In April 1866, Mackay's first journal, The Mackay Mercury, was established and published on a bi-weekly basis. The Mackay Standard commenced publication in 1877 on a weekly basis. Ipswich In 1855, The North Australian was first published in Ipswich and appeared weekly for four years before facing competition in the area. The Ipswich Herald was introduced to Ipswich in 1859 and also ran weekly. In 1861, both newspapers merged into one, being renamed The Queensland Times, which was first published on 8 October 1861. Gladstone In January 1868, Gladstone produced its first newspaper, The Observer (Gladstone). It was not until 18 years later that The Observer (Gladstone) faced competition from the Gladstone Advocate in 1886. Both newspapers were published biweekly. Demise of PNQ The geographic location of Queensland provincial newspapers, with their comparatively limited regional readership, ultimately meant that they were unable to effectively compete in the wider Australian media sphere. Swift developments in technology revolutionised newspaper production and distribution in the mid- to late-20th century led to metropolitan newspapers gaining increasingly wide circulation, thereby reducing the demand for provincial newspapers. In his analysis of the demise of the PNQ Kirkpatrick discusses some of the strategies 'dying' newspapers had attempted, largely to no longer term avail, in a bid to maintain, if not to increase, their readership. These included home delivery, community involvement and reader competitions. The overall decline in newspaper circulation can be attributed to various factors including the impact of television and online newspapers, increasing 'cover prices' and 'free newspapers.' Other stresses faced by PNQ included internal disagreements about strategic directions alongside nepotistic and unwise managerial appointments within PNQ which meant that later generation Dunn, Manning and Irwin families 'lack[ed] the knowledge of, and desire to indulge in, the tactics of the competitive media