Fairfax takes on News in Brisbane with internet only news service

FAIRFAX has launched a news website in Brisbane in a bid to extend the media group's news reach beyond its traditional markets of NSW and Victoria.

brisbanetimes.com.au will be the first time the company has launched a news service not directly associated with an existing newspaper.

According to Fairfax it has recruited 15 journalists, who will pump out local news to attract the attention of the city's estimated one million internet users and is headed by Mitchell Murphy, a former editor-in-chief of the Illawarra Mercury, who is based in Brisbane and has been working on the launch of the website since last October.

News Limited has long dominated the booming South East Queensland corner with its Courier Mail, Gold Coast Mail and Australian newspapers.

The internet only play reflects Fairfax's reluctance to take on its much bigger rival in a print battle for the lucrative Queensland market.

News recently launched its Mx commuter newspaper product in Brisbane, further crowding the Brisbane advertising market