Fairfax Media Job Cuts

[stuey]

The following is an article just released about Fairfax newspapers - not really good if you are employed in a newspaper at the moment.



Fairfax Media will move The Sydney Morning Herald and The Ageto a tabloid and sack 1900 staff — including 380 editorial positions — as part of a massive cost-cutting drive to save the media giant from corporate oblivion.
In the bombshell announcement delivered via a technically plagued internal staff webcast this morning, CEO Greg Hywood said 20% of the cuts would come from editorial, 20% from printing and the remainder from unspecified other activities.
In a separate ASX announcement (http://www.asx.com.au/asxpdf/20120618/pdf/426wcrqb4ns6px.pdf), the company also revealed it was turning The Age and The SMH into tabloids — or “compacts” as it describes it — as part of its $170 million three-year “Fairfax of the Future” strategy. The first cut-down editions will start in March next year.
Hywood also announced that digital paywalled subscriptions will be introduced to metro masthead websites on a “metered” basis, with details due by the end of 2012. The ailing firm will also press ahead with its “digital first” editorial model, forcing hacks to file multiple times for online during the day.
The company’s Tullamarine and Chullora printing presses will close by June 2014, saving the company $44 million annually. Tullamarine opened to much fanfare in 2003; Chullora employs 230 permanent full-time staff and 140 casuals. The decision raises the prospect thatThe Age will be printed at regional facilities like Ballarat and shipped to the Melbourne CBD early each morning.
The total savings from the dual moves will come in at $235 million annually with one-off costs (mostly redundancies) of $248 million after land sales are factored in.
Hwyood, a former Australian Financial Review cadet, said he would be booking a “substantial” number of redundancies in the next 60 to 90 days.
The media giant currently employs 800 metropolitan journalists across The Age, The Herald, The Canberra Times and its Brisbane and Perth web portals. Crikey understands that 150 editorial positions will be cut from the metro division, including potentially 50 from The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.
“While it will be hard, it will change the business for the better. I urge people to think twice before challenging the changes,” he told staff, adding it is “the greatest chance to be a profitable or sustainable business in the future”.
He said the strategy was about bringing the fixed cost base down and relieving pressure on revenues, adding that company was “carrying a cost base that is way over what you need”.
Earlier this morning, Fairfax said it had reaped $166 million by selling off 15% of New Zealand auction site TradeMe. It will continue to hold a majority 51% stake in the company. Hywood also revealed that Fairfax had considered spinning off the metro businesses, as recommended by some analysts.
Analyst Peter Cox told Crikey that it was the right thing to do, but came ten years too late. “It’s the correct action but it’s too late. The board have been asleep at the wheel for the past five to ten years.”
“Fairfax management made three big mistakes: they didn’t charge online much earlier (public now used to free content); they failed to see how many people would abandon print for online and failed to capture classified rivers of gold online.”
The metered paywall, Cox said, “was purely a survival technique to get costs below revenue. Of course, this will help Fairfax survive for the time being but it doesn’t mean the company has a future.”
Fairfax shares jumped 4% at the open to 63.5 cents before slipping to 62 cents as the news sunk in. The company had been trading for months at record lows, having lost 15% of its value this year.
Mining entrepreneur Gina Rinehart last week upped her stake in the company to 18% and is pushing for a board seat for herself and her close adviser, fast food king Jack Cowin.

[JM Tran]

For Adelaide - Advertiser/Sunday Mail has laid off a lot of photographers and writers, and have now moved into the same floor of the building as the Messenger newspaper - as they had their own floor before. Losing a lot of money I have heard.....!

[Kym]

A combination of the Internet and expanded FTA Digital TV means news is more available than every before and the traditional print media will struggle.
As a result of competing with instant digital news channels which have a different cost structure the quality of newspaper journalism has also declined.

Welcome the the 21st century.

[ricktas]

Way back before the printing press, news was delivered by the town crier and then by word of mouth. The printing press saw the role of Town Crier all but vanish.

Now the internet has taken over and the printing press is losing ground. Sad for the journalists and staff, but this has been coming for years. I never buy a newspaper anymore.

I reckon within 10 years or so, most newspapers will have all but disappeared.

[nixworries]

we got the bulletin today they are looking at only 20 odd percent print the rest electronic media by subsciption

[peterb666]

I won't be subscribing. A flawed model. Many years ago they should have set up a premium subscription service as well as a free, advertising supported mass media site.

Newspapers as we know it are dying and as they go, the quality goes down and the price goes up.

It will only be a couple of years before the SMH is gone.

[ameerat42]

Finally, it's all a load of carp. The world will go into meltdown, and we might as well all go fission!
BTW, any news?

[Art Vandelay]

So we miss out on the chance to buy one eyed opinionated news articles on fish and chip wrapping ?

I won't be crying, nor will I be subscribing online.

[jeffde]

Funny Faifax owned local paper is now employing me as a TOG on a casual as needs basis - on the day this was announced....
First gig this Friday - No i don't intend it to be a full time career with them....

[MattNQ]

So we miss out on the chance to buy one eyed opinionated news articles on fish and chip wrapping ?

I won't be crying, nor will I be subscribing online.

Oh Art, what would you do if we ever lost the Townsville Bulletin..?
Wouldn't you miss the overdramatic, sensationalist headlines about trivial things, incorrect grammar, poorly written articles, and hard hitting news stories that get most facts wrong? :D
Apart from the above points raised, it is a great read!

[Art Vandelay]

Matt, the Townsville Bulletin is a perfect example of the loss of independent reporting. Sadly the once respected regional newspaper is now just another News Ltd mouthpiece.

I hear whispers of several old hand journos about town who recently gathered funding to start up an independant alternative. Online only & not your typical blog dribble. Be interesting to see if it comes together.

[kiwi]

Funny Faifax owned local paper is now employing me as a TOG on a casual as needs basis - on the day this was announced....
First gig this Friday - No i don't intend it to be a full time career with them....


and so it begins...

[norwest]

And gets worse. A fool travels 30 mins and turns up to cover a sports event. A home event in a normal home/away competition format and the events which the fool regularly covers for the commercial client.

The fool readies himself to shoot the event, the game begins and the fool notices one of the competitors whom just completed the prior lower grade event, walk over close to himself with a camera and start shooting. The fool, thinking the competitor is getting some shots for himself or the club facebook site, starts a conversation while shooting away.

The competitor tells the fool he is now supplying the commercial client with shots of all their club's events and after prompting from the fool, tells the fool he's only getting accreditation because unlike the fool it's only an interest, for a bit of fun and to get shots for the club, so he can't expect to get paid.

So the fool later learns from the client that he will no longer have those events to cover. But the fool realises it doesn't stop just there as clients from the home towns/cities of the visiting clubs are also regularly supplied with the fools products but will in future be supplied with the player's free product through the client in a "I'll pat your back if you pat mine!" agreement.

For this regular event, the home town/city client and the away town/city clients no longer exist on the fool's books.

But wait for it, there's more. The previous week the fool travelled 3 hours to cover a sporting event of a different kind for a commercial client only to find out after the fact that the client was to be supplied with a free product from a local and will continue to do so in the future.

Again and as above, this regular event is added to the growing list of the home town/city client and the away town/city clients that no longer exist on the fool's books.

You know what they say about fools, eh?

[ApolloLXII]

I agree with Kym & Rick, this will be the way of the future. The sackings have everything to do with economics as does downsizing the papers to tabloid. In this instance, only advertisers will stand to lose as they will no longer have access to full page ads in the larger format. You have to move with the times or get left behind and go out of business. News photographers will lose work, however, as with any profession, you should never work on the assumption of having a job for life. As for on-line newspaper editions ( and, perhaps, PDF and e-reader editions for those who wish to read at leisure ), only time will tell if they are a success or not.

[ricktas]

I wonder how much income the brands earn from all their online presences. They all have ads splashed across their 'news' website. To the point that some have ads that pop-up, slide out, or even frame the entire news articles. There must be some money being generated from the online presences.

I just think its a dynamic shift in the way people (public) gather the information they want. They no longer buy papers, choosing to read it online.

I also wonder how many trees are no longer needing to be chopped down to produce newsprint, compared to say 20 years ago. People are generally more environmentally aware and certainly there are probably a few who get their news online, believing they are helping the environment.

Newspapers, and probably soon enough, magazines are all going to find their printed circulation is not enough to sustain their current business model.

For me, there is also., sadly, the decline in journalistic quality. The papers are so full of crap dressed up to look like news that they are not worth buying. The line between gossip celebrity magazines and what were quality news providers has become seriously blurred and I don't really care if Kylie has slagged off at Madonna, or Ozzy has gone on a bender. Of if some guy has tweeted about something or someone.

[norwest]

Of even more significance in my opinion is the ramifications of Rhineharte's push regarding control of Fairfax, it's editorial independence and content for the sole purpose of servicing the personal business and political interests of an individual with the 1950's conservative views and contempt for democratic principles inherited from her father. With papers in 5 major cities, numerous regional centres and country towns plus major radio stations, the potential for influence is enormous.

Lump this in with the existing 'tabloid ethics' of News Corp and we end up with the only two major media companies in the country controlling the same editorial opinion and political agenda with little room left for journalistic independence, integrity and diversity of opinion.

[Art Vandelay]

So you don't think the Sydney Mineral Herald will be a good thing ? :lol:

[norwest]

I'll pay that one :D As i heard someone say the other day, we have noting to worry about because Gina will treat us like we are members of her own family. :eek: Hell, everyone run.

[ricktas]

Re Gina. Rupert Murdoch controls about 70% of the Australian Print media. I reckon we should be looking at his influence, not just where Gina wants it to go, with her 18% or so of Fairfax.

No wonder so many get their news from other sources, when even a perceived taint to these company's fair and equitable reporting means we look elsewhere for our information

[norwest]

Both Rupert and Rhinehart should be looked at thoroughly but of the two major political parties, Rupert and Rhinehart are advantageous to one with whom they have a traditional 'I'll pat your back and you pat mine agreement' and the other party either doesn't have the numbers or the political guts to not fear the political backlash they'd get from a couple of very cranky, powerful media owners with the ethics of sewer rats.

[Art Vandelay]

A recent summary of who owns what at the moment.

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/blogs/117771/Ricardos-Business/126336/Who-owns-what-in-the-Australian-media

Lot's of inbreeding & lack of independence by the looks.

[stuey]

Another one bites the dust http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/entertainment/music/rave-over-for-street-press-mainstay-20120626-21069.html

and while on the topic of media ownership, lets not forget Australia's largest producer of magazines (from social to sport) ACP who are controlled by the channel 9 conglomerate....

[ricktas]

I reckon it will not be long and we will see agencies like Slattery and SMPImages suffering as well. After all, the print media is realising it can get stuff done cheaper, and it can hire a few weekend warriors and dump the imagebank, type sites and get good photos at half the price.

Get rid of the journalists, photographers and rely on the public to send them free stories and picshers.

[Kym]

If the AFL (CA, TA, NRL, V8 etc.) were smart they would allow amateurs to take any lenses they liked and only allow public publication via an AFL online editorial service.

They could save $$ and make $$ at the same time. It's just a different business model.

SMP, Slatterry etc. would need to adapt.

[stuey]

Thats actually not a bad idea Kym and could work well if they put a plan in place. But the question would be how would the organizations (TA CA NRL V8's etc) be able to stifle out siders from doing what they want thus else where with the images and therefore missing their cut of the $$$ pie from those images. Interesting thought though.

[ricktas]

People post their photos from these events on facebook, flickr etc as it is. There is even a website run out of Melbourne that sells AFL/NRL, Australian Tennis Open and even some of the baseball from Melbourne and Sydney etc images printed onto mugs, clothing etc, and it is not part of the official channels of these organisations. I have looked at it several times and wondered how it wasn't closed down and the photographer taken to court.

So it happens anyway, so these organisations could just free it all up, but take the very best photos they get for their own marketing, supply to print media etc.

[kiwi]

Im launching an agency alternative quite soon. Free coverage of all sporting events for all media clients and the sporting organizations. I have experienced but not fulltime photographers lined up in every capital city and am negotiating with various sporting bodies. The photographers will shoot for free but will importantly retain copyright and be able to use their photos for commercial purposes.

I'm going to make the agencies redundant

[leaf]

People have to learn how to adapt to the ever chaging world.

[kiwi]

The hardest thing is forecasting where things are going to be in 5 years !!

[Redgum]

I'd rather be a journalist than a photographer by profession. Published short stories increased three-fold last year, be it print or digital and earnings increased significantly. As has been documented here and other places the need for professional photography and its value has more than halved. Just a little bit of each will do fine, thanks. :)

[kiwi]

Yeah, I think providing ready to publish pieces are the go


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[stuey]

We already have the ready to go journalistic pieces now available to all print and electronic media outlets through the wire service - AP AFP AAP BPA and many more all produce package story/image pieces ready for print and have done so for a very long time.

[kiwi]

who's "we" ?

[Redgum]

We already have the ready to go journalistic pieces now available to all print and electronic media outlets through the wire service - AP AFP AAP BPA and many more all produce package story/image pieces ready for print and have done so for a very long time.
"We". Hey Stuey, you're not Rupert or Gina in disguise, are you? Packaged stories are the staple of most media and have been since day one. The value is to be a creative writer that can produce a worthwhile story before being asked and know where to put it. That's the money game.

[stuey]

Lol redgum. nope i wish then i wouldnt be here to all hours some times just to pay the bills. Just a humble back bencher one is. I agree with your statement "The value is to be a creative writer that can produce a worthwhile story before being asked and know where to put it. That's the money game." how ever as deadline looms each day and text boxes still havnt been filled its so easy to go the wire service way and just lay a pre-written AAP story in the box. as you know time is not of the essence within that industry, thus meaning sometimes the quick and easy wire service is the easiest way to go.

[kiwi]

I honestly dont believe you Stuey, sorry, why don't you admit that you are current working sport photojournalist ? You seem to know far too much about the industry not to be in it :cool:

[Redgum]

I honestly dont believe you Stuey, sorry, why don't you admit that you are current working sport photojournalist ? You seem to know far too much about the industry not to be in it :cool:
Kiwi, Stuey just said that (almost) but it's hard work creating a new story when you can drag it off the wire already prepared. He prefers to cover full blooded policy statements by the opposition (wire) but they're rare.

[stuey]

Interesting read about Getty going up for possible sale again.
Getty Images owners consider sale or IPO

The owners of Getty Images, the world’s largest distributor of stock photos, video and other digital content, have retained bankers to examine a possible sale or public offering of the business they took private four years ago (http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/2410dd0a-e3ae-11dc-8799-0000779fd2ac.html) for $2.4bn.
Hellman & Friedman, the US private equity fund, is working with Goldman Sachs (http://markets.ft.com/tearsheets/performance.asp?s=us:GS) and JPMorgan Chase (http://markets.ft.com/tearsheets/performance.asp?s=us:JPM), five people familiar with the plans said, adding that a sale or IPO could value the business at as much as $4bn.


The move comes as interest in the sector has been piqued by other sales.
Last week the private equity fund Kolhberg Kravis Roberts took a 50 per cent stake in Fotolia (http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b8f30ddc-9eb0-11e1-9cc8-00144feabdc0.html), a stock photography manager, in a bid to consolidate the fragmented marketplace for licensing online digital images and videos.
The Fotolia deal came as its owner TA Associates looked to sell a stake in the business it had acquired in 2009. The Boston-based fund will retain just under a third of the shares following KKR’s investment.
The investment in Fotolia came in the same week as rival Shutterstock, with 19m images for sale, filed papers to raise $115m in a yet to be priced New York IPO, which is being led by Morgan Stanley (http://markets.ft.com/tearsheets/performance.asp?s=us:MS).

The rest of the article can be read here - http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/589b94b2-a41f-11e1-a701-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1yxigugxJ

[kiwi]

Kiwi, Stuey just said that (almost) but it's hard work creating a new story when you can drag it off the wire already prepared. He prefers to cover full blooded policy statements by the opposition (wire) but they're rare.

actually, "stuey" didnt answer my question at all

[norwest]

I honestly dont believe you Stuey, sorry, why don't you admit that you are current working sport photojournalist ? You seem to know far too much about the industry not to be in it :cool:

Stuey knows more than the rest of us, apparently, so perhaps you're correct. Upwards of 80 posts without posting a shot is strange though. Maybe the shots would give away his identity while wanting to remain incognito. :scrtch:

[Kym]

Do NOT get personal!!
This thread is on the edge!!

Temporary Bans may apply if the thread degrades any further.

[Redgum]

Surely it doesn't matter what Stuey is or does? All he is saying is that anyone (within reason and preferably a journalist) can file a story (with photo if you like) without writing a word or pressing a camera button (off the wire). A major part of newspapers is written this way and the editor may never meet or talk to the author or photographer. The story is "filed" and the creator paid money and it could be released anywhere. But the level of money for this sort of article is peanuts (hardly a wage if you like). Journalists/photojournalists who specifically create articles get paid considerably more but of course with greater risk (of not getting paid).
There's little money in newspaper photography - a good deal more in corporate and commercial magazines but still hard work.

[kiwi]

Of course it matters. Anyhow I've made my point, it's up to others now

[stuey]

Interesting read from the Guardian Newspaper in the UK about the massive decline in newspaper staff togs.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/greenslade/2012/jan/24/news-photography-theindependent

[Redgum]

So true, Stuey. From a business perspective why would you want to employ photographers when there's such a plethora of wannabee's out there that can do it for nix. And the fact that you may be employed doesn't make you better, just a little smarter. The article simply makes the point that skills like photography are no longer stand-alone. You just have to be multi-skilled and in the print media if you can't write/negotiate/edit there is little chance of even a short career.

[I @ M]

So true, Stuey.

Redgum, have a look at Stuey's membership status and then think about the meaning behind "truth" ------

[ricktas]

@ redgum, Stuey was not who he was pretending to be:

http://www.ausphotography.net.au/forum/showthread.php?106903-Canadian-Rockies-2011

[Redgum]

I've got little concern for Stuey or others here that are focused on the individual - be that as it may - in this case his story from the "Guardian" is relative and factual and that's what I commented on.
It is a little disappointing that it took this site so long to pick up on Stuey's so called credentials (notwithstanding the alleged dishonesty).
One thing you learn in journalism is that dishonesty is not complete.

[ricktas]

I've got little concern for Stuey or others here that are focused on the individual - be that as it may - in this case his story from the "Guardian" is relative and factual and that's what I commented on.
It is a little disappointing that it took this site so long to pick up on Stuey's so called credentials (notwithstanding the alleged dishonesty).
One thing you learn in journalism is that dishonesty is not complete.

We had been watching him for some time, but without proof (or a site rule breach) we cannot just go around banning members for no good reason. Once we had that information, we acted. Once he/she posted photos, it was fairly easy for me to find out more details and gave us the proof we needed. If we just started banning people cause we thought they might be up to something, we would then be accused of over-moderation (which we are at times anyhow).

I agree that the purpose of this thread, and the links to the various news/media articles is a worthwhile discussion, so lets all get back to that.

[patrickv]

Wow this is so messed up I'm happy I don't work for Fairfax anymore!

[jeffde]

Wow - you go away for a few days... - just did 2 full days with the local fairfax paper - the reason i;m getting some casual work is that a photojounalist left - he was probably 70% Tog 30% journo - they replaced him the a 70% journalist / 30% tog and now one of the 2 main togs is going on long service - so being available sometimes during the week - i'm getting some fill in - having worked 2 full days and 2 1/2 days - bit of an eye opener in how it all works . Jobs on the 1/2 hour - 30 mins for downloading before lunch and an hour for downloading and captioning in the afternoon. I'm enjoying it but wouldn't want to do it full time - the mony is Ok - casual hourly rate - won't make me rich but winter in Orange is my quietest time - very few weddings or family portraits (cause is so bloody cold...)

- - - Updated - - -

I meant to add - the Central Western Daily produces 6 papers a week Mon-Sat - has only 2 FT Togs now and a pool of casuals that mainly cover socials and weekend sport.