Tweed Shire Council engages with its community every day in many ways; it is part of Council’s core role. For more than 14 years Tweed Shire Council has been at the forefront of a unique communication tool to inform the diverse Tweed community – Council’s own newspaper the Tweed Link.
Servicing a geographically diverse community of more than 90,000 people over 1303km2 the Tweed Link is a free weekly ISSN (International Standard Serial Number) registered newspaper delivered to 38,500 households across the Tweed.
The first edition of the Tweed Link was printed on Tuesday 12 November 1996 and on 1 March 2011 celebrated its 700th issue.
Tweed Shire Council was recently recognised for its best practice in communication winning the national inaugural Best Publication Award at the Good Communicators Award held in Canberra in April and was also awarded the 2010 RH Dougherty Award (NSW) for Reporting to your Community.
The judges said the Tweed Link nomination was a stand-out in a competitive field of entries from government organisations around Australia.
Mayor of Tweed, Cr Kevin Skinner said very few councils across Australia provide first-hand information to their residents delivered directly to their letterboxes each week.
“The Tweed Link is Council’s primary communication tool, and has proven to be an effective way to reach our residents and ratepayers, with 38,500 copies delivered by Australia Post 49 weeks of the year. An independent phone survey conducted last year found that 78 per cent of recipients read the Tweed Link every week, with 90 per cent reading it at least every two weeks,” he said.
The Tweed Link is supported by a robust policy outlining editorial and advertising requirements as well as a strong electronic subscription service and online presence. To subscribe to the Tweed Link or for more information visit www.tweed.nsw.gov.au/LinkWeb/TweedLinkDetail.aspx
Tweed Link Snapshot
Population: 90,000 plus
Area: 1303 km2
Circulation: 38,500
Published: Weekly, delivered Tuesday/Wednesday
Readership: 78% of residents, an estimated 62,400 people, read the Tweed Link weekly.
Format: 4-6 pages, A4 black and white print on 100% recycled stock using soy-based inks, available in full colour online.
Distribution: Direct to all Tweed households (38,500) and PO Boxes; available on audio tape,hard copy and electronic subscriptions.
Website: www.tweed.nsw.gov.au and click on ‘Tweed Link Newspaper’
Cost: FREE to residents/e-subscriptions
Subscriptions: Hard copy: $15 for six months or $30 for 12 months. Electronic: free, however does not replace the weekly hard copy delivered to households.
