Fairfax media is commencing a major restructuring program of the mastheads in its stable in Australia and New Zealand, including The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.
Is it the management's only option - in a climate of declining profit margins - to cut staff and downsize the editorial process? I would venture to say that yes, a restructuring may be necessary, to prime the company towards new media and importantly, other platforms, but that there should be a move towards specialist journalism, eg. more high-end analysis type articles for a market that is willing to pay, rather than towards more general reporting and lifetyle-type features. I think it's important to note that general news and entertainment/lifestyle stories can be eaily obtained from other sources on the internet, mobile, cable TV etc and people will not buy the paper for such news.
On the other hand, more exclusive stories and analysis pieces geared towards an Australian market could possibly give media companies like Fairfax a future. Examples like the success of The Economist are encouraging.
But this might also be a simple case of the demise of the daily broadsheet as a source of general news, local, state, national and international. Who knows - the market might become much more fractured, and people will choose to get information from a wider variety of sources. eg. their mobile phone for breaking news, their e-paper or iphone/PDA for longer stories, their computer at work for photos, multimedia and other feature stories, and the news in the evening on telly for a round-up of the day's news. Once a week, they'll read The Guardian Weekly, National Geographic Magazine or The Economist for a in-depth feature.
As it is, a majority of my peers (in the 18-30 age category) do not buy newspapers. They do read news websites that have articles/images/multimedia for free. They listen to commercial radio and television news, and sometimes watch documentaries on SBS, ABC and on cable television channels like the Discovery network. And some still read the weekend newspapers that have more analysis and feature articles.
I don't deny that I will miss the daily broadsheet. To me, it's like books, having a physical product has a certain attraction. But I myself am more of a news consumer online, on cable news channels like BBC and CNN, and of radio podcasts and television current affairs programs. And I'm a very heavy consumer - most people out that don't care if a newspaper collapses or a journalist loses their job.
So if a media company like Fairfax, which also owns websites like rsvp.com.au, domain.com.au and trademe.co.nz, evolves to become an information company and not a newspaper or news driven company, don't be surprised.
The journalists' union Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance has set up a Fair Go, Fairfax website and a facebook group, which currently has more than 1000 members.
Articles about Fairfax's cuts:
Fairfax Media legal unit also gets chopped in job axings
Citizen McCarthy swings Fairfax axe
Fairfax newspaper production to be outsourced
Strike paper on Friday, August 29:
Video of Fairfax campaign:
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