Rail News Victoria
Rail News Victoria (often abbreviated to RNV) is a magazine published monthly in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Its primary focus is railway and tramway news, events and sightings from around the state and sometimes nationally as well, where it has relevance to Victoria. There is also heavy emphasis on topics such as boats, aircraft and buses – something many readers feel that the magazine can do without due to its irrelevance, and readership has declined for this reason.
RNV usually has one or two lead articles each month, for which authors receive no payment. Other material in the magazine is collected either by a dedicated team of contributors or via various internet forums or lists.
The magazine is edited by Roderick B. Smith at his home, and although the magazine is professionally printed, a group of volunteers gather once a month to manually collate and staple the pages.
In recent times, the editor has come under heavy fire from a number of unhappy subscribers and readers for many reasons. These include sloppy reporting and editing styles, poor reproduction of photos, republication of news items without appropriate permission and variable issue dates. Some loyal contributors have stopped providing information for this reason.
As of January 2005, the cover price for RNV is AUD$4.95 including GST.
RNV has often been dubbed Rods News & Views, a criticism from readers that news is frequently skewed to reflect the personal or political views of the editor.
In March 2005, the editor launched legal action against one individual for openly mocking the magazine.