Fairfax Media is introducing a “soft” paywall for The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH). Initially, the paywall will only affect readers outside Australia, but a domestic version will follow. Fairfax…
Anyone who has picked up the country’s biggest newspapers in the past week (and that of course includes the nation’s poll-fearing political powerbrokers) would naturally think communication minister Stephen…
Much of the commentary surrounding Fairfax Media’s decision to go tabloid (or “compact”, as described by Fairfax) has centred around the perceived changes to content. Content certainly matters, but not…
The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald today managed the long-anticipated shrink to a tabloid format without any major loss of dignity. No shrill DIRTY ROTTEN CHEATS headlines or the like (100 drug probes…
After 159 and 172 years respectively, the broadsheet tradition has ended for the weekday editions of The Age and Sydney Morning Herald (SMH). Today, both these Fairfax Media mastheads became tabloid-sized…
Fairfax chief executive Greg Hywood has dismissed the threat from the impending Australian launch of UK media group The Guardian, telling shareholders it is not a strong competitive brand in Australia…
Fairfax Media Group has ruled out a breakup and sell off of its business, with chairman Roger Corbett telling shareholders today such a move would destroy value. In his address at today’s Annual General…
The Fairfax Media AGM took place in Melbourne today against a backdrop of financial meltdown in the company’s fortunes. The share price — currently at 38 cents — has halved since the beginning of the year…
Newspapers love a bold, standout headline. But not when it is about them and the news is bad. Fairfax Media today announced its annual results with a whopping headline figure of a net loss after tax of…
Today’s major loss and writedown of mastheads and goodwill by Fairfax will make it more difficult for the company to resist the demands of major shareholder Gina Rinehart, say media experts. Fairfax has…
As major newspapers in Australia prepare to move to digital-first models, the old idea of a journalistic “priesthood” imparting wisdom to many is shifting. Our recently released survey, Journalism at the…
Fairfax Media’s decision to offer a board seat to Jack Cowin, a close confidant of Gina Rinehart, is likely an attempt to appease the world’s richest woman - notwithstanding claims to the contrary by CEO…
News of significant job losses and organisational restructuring at Fairfax has thrown new spotlight onto the continuing transformation of the Australian media landscape. It’s clear that newspapers in their…
It’s been an interesting time for Australia’s corporate watchdog. Financial manoeuvres by Gina Rinehart and James Packer, which saw them increase their holdings in Fairfax Media and Echo Entertainment…
Fairfax Media Ltd’s constitution enables the board to allocate board places in addition to the existing directors up to the maximum number of directors allowed in the constitution - not more than 12 unless…
Hancock Prospecting’s explanation for selling down to 15% of Fairfax suggests it is unlikely either to bid or sell down further in the short term. Its stated reason was to clear an obstacle - arising from…
Dear media CEOs, Thanks for your recent letter to Prime Minister Julia Gillard outlining concerns some of you have about regulation of the news media industry. First a question regarding your views of…
It took a while, but the Australian news industry has finally caught up with the crisis of journalism which has been affecting the rest of the world for quite some time. I say “crisis”, but let’s be clear…
After the purchase of the London Telegraph and Evening Standard, someone asked Lord Beaverbrook why he bought it, given the apparently limited financial returns that could be expected. His answer was simple…
Journalists have never been particularly fond of advertising or advertisers – to most journalists, advertising was space and time taken away from good stories and advertisers were commercial interests…