City of Newcastle Government Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal found that Newcastle City Council was not "fit for the future", it was recommended that the City of Newcastle merge with Lake Macquarie City Council. However, the Minister for Local Government subsequently proposed that Newcastle City Council instead merge with Port Stephens Council to form a new council with an area of and support a population of approximately 230,000. The outcome of an independent review was completed by mid–2016. On 14 February 2017, the NSW Government announced it would not be proceeding with further regional council mergers, including the Newcastle City Council and Port
Newcastle, New South Wales "The Herald" (formerly "The Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate" and then "The Newcastle Herald"), several weeklies including the "Newcastle Star", "The Post" and the bi-monthly "The Hunter Advocate". Other alternative media in the city include the university's student publications Opus and Yak Magazine, Newcastle Mirage (a local arts and culture zine) and Urchin (a zine published by the media and arts organisation Octapod). The city is also served by several local radio stations, including those owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and SBS. Newcastle is also served by five television networks, three commercial and two national services: 9NBN produces