An article on the growth of online news sites that are linked to newspapers, rather than wire agencies, and how they have proved their worth during the current financial crisis.
Online news sites lead the battle for eyeballs
Scott Murdoch | September 22, 2008
The Australian
THE days of financial market traders glued to the screen monitoring wire news feeds could be lessening, with the growth of global online news sites. MORE
Monday, September 22, 2008
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Tribune journos fight back
Reporters From Paper Suing Chief of Tribune
and a media agency head writes about where journalists should turn to for their next pay check:
Future of journalism may be in private companies
and a media agency head writes about where journalists should turn to for their next pay check:
Future of journalism may be in private companies
Saturday, September 6, 2008
'A problem for the democratic functioning of society'
More editorials and opinion pieces about the changing nature of journalism. The two here focus on the structural problems being faced by the industry as a whole. Can they be overcome? Has the industry past a turning point where there's no turning back?
The winter of journalism's content
THE AUSTRALIAN
David McKnight and Penny O'Donnell | September 03, 2008
NEWSPAPERS in Australia and the world face difficult choices in the next decade. The dilemma can be expressed in a simple question: who will pay for quality journalism in the future? Until now the answer has been obvious. Advertising has subsidised journalism since the mass market press emerged at the end of the 19th century.
But the much-despised advertising is on the move. It's heading for the internet and with it is going one of the main props for journalists' salaries. In the language of economists, the business model for journalism is collapsing. But this is more than a problem for journalists or media owners; it is a problem for the democratic functioning of society.
Techno-optimists will tell you that the dinosaur newspaper industry simply will be replaced. The public will be informed by news on the internet, television and radio.
There are at least three problems with this bright forecast. First, newspapers are by far the main source of news as well as agenda setters compared with radio, TV and online, according to research for the Australian Broadcasting Authority in 2001 (now the Australian Communications and Media Authority). MORE
Loss of deepest diggers
Mark Day Blog | September 04, 2008 | 15 Comments
THE ructions at Fairfax Media have succeeded in putting the future of newspapers and journalism front and centre of debate about future trends in media. Commentary has focused mainly on Fairfax’s policies, its financial modelling and the perception that publishing is a business on a slippery slope.
Precious little has been said about how the industry’s structural problems may be overcome. Will it be by slashing and burning, reducing costs by sacking people in a spiralling game with no end? Or will it be by investing in new ways of doing things in the hope or expectation that they will deliver the profits required to grow?
Fairfax, driven by the cost-cutting experts it inherited from last year’s merger with Rural Press, has opted for the slash and burn model. Of the 550 people earmarked for the sack, about 180 will be journalists, with an expected 120 to go from the company’s flagship titles The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.
Fairfax is not alone in going down this route. The big US papers, led by The New York Times, have been leading the way in recent years. MORE
The winter of journalism's content
THE AUSTRALIAN
David McKnight and Penny O'Donnell | September 03, 2008
NEWSPAPERS in Australia and the world face difficult choices in the next decade. The dilemma can be expressed in a simple question: who will pay for quality journalism in the future? Until now the answer has been obvious. Advertising has subsidised journalism since the mass market press emerged at the end of the 19th century.
But the much-despised advertising is on the move. It's heading for the internet and with it is going one of the main props for journalists' salaries. In the language of economists, the business model for journalism is collapsing. But this is more than a problem for journalists or media owners; it is a problem for the democratic functioning of society.
Techno-optimists will tell you that the dinosaur newspaper industry simply will be replaced. The public will be informed by news on the internet, television and radio.
There are at least three problems with this bright forecast. First, newspapers are by far the main source of news as well as agenda setters compared with radio, TV and online, according to research for the Australian Broadcasting Authority in 2001 (now the Australian Communications and Media Authority). MORE
Loss of deepest diggers
Mark Day Blog | September 04, 2008 | 15 Comments
THE ructions at Fairfax Media have succeeded in putting the future of newspapers and journalism front and centre of debate about future trends in media. Commentary has focused mainly on Fairfax’s policies, its financial modelling and the perception that publishing is a business on a slippery slope.
Precious little has been said about how the industry’s structural problems may be overcome. Will it be by slashing and burning, reducing costs by sacking people in a spiralling game with no end? Or will it be by investing in new ways of doing things in the hope or expectation that they will deliver the profits required to grow?
Fairfax, driven by the cost-cutting experts it inherited from last year’s merger with Rural Press, has opted for the slash and burn model. Of the 550 people earmarked for the sack, about 180 will be journalists, with an expected 120 to go from the company’s flagship titles The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.
Fairfax is not alone in going down this route. The big US papers, led by The New York Times, have been leading the way in recent years. MORE
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
ABC's take on the media crisis in Australia
Here are two Australian Broadcasting Corporation stories on the current Fairfax Media cuts and the general decline of the media industry.
1. 7.30 Report
Media industry in crisis as standards decline: Davies
Kerry O’Brien speaks with investigative journalist and author Nick Davies about his new book, Flat Earth News. Davies argues that journalistic standards are declining the world over as cost cutting and government pressures take toll on the industry.
Read transcript.
Watch video of extended interview.
2. Media Watch
Trouble at Fairfax
The rise of the internet and a slowing economy has led to the announcement by Fairfax that it will cut 5% of its workforce in Australia and New Zealand. Will these cuts come at the expense of journalism?
Read transcript.
Watch video.
1. 7.30 Report
Media industry in crisis as standards decline: Davies
Kerry O’Brien speaks with investigative journalist and author Nick Davies about his new book, Flat Earth News. Davies argues that journalistic standards are declining the world over as cost cutting and government pressures take toll on the industry.
Read transcript.
Watch video of extended interview.
2. Media Watch
Trouble at Fairfax
The rise of the internet and a slowing economy has led to the announcement by Fairfax that it will cut 5% of its workforce in Australia and New Zealand. Will these cuts come at the expense of journalism?
Read transcript.
Watch video.
Monday, September 1, 2008
The digital side of Fairfax
Fairfax Digital is growing while Fairfax Media is being cut - that's the latest news coming out of the Australian media company. But how effective are the advertising and profit models at the moment. Can the company evolve into a digital information company?
Bright future for Fairfax Media digital division
Michael Sainsbury | September 01, 2008
FAIRFAX Media's booming digital division -- which provided the only bright spot in disappointing recent financials -- is gearing up to grab a slice of $3.3 billion in television advertising as the Australian internet industry moves towards a cohesive audience measurement system.
The Fairfax digital division, which will escape the axe-wielding announced at its Australian and New Zealand broadsheets, boosted profits by more than 50 per cent in Australia and New Zealand and is adding more staff to its existing 600.
In the days after Fairfax's main newspaper group announced staff cuts of 550 people, or 5 per cent of the workforce, Fairfax Digital chief Jack Matthews said the division had added about 100 people in the 2008 financial year.
Mr Matthews said staff growth would continue next year, although not at such a fast rate, and the group could pick up people who had lost their jobs in the newspaper division.
"We are operating in a very different environment but the same kind of pressures to be efficient and cost-effective exist here," Mr Matthews said.
"It's not like we have a blank chequebook. One difference is that our industry and our market are still high-growth areas and we need to invest in that growth.
"Even though revenue growth slowed a bit in the second half, year on year, the bottom line increased in the second half." MORE
Bright future for Fairfax Media digital division
Michael Sainsbury | September 01, 2008
FAIRFAX Media's booming digital division -- which provided the only bright spot in disappointing recent financials -- is gearing up to grab a slice of $3.3 billion in television advertising as the Australian internet industry moves towards a cohesive audience measurement system.
The Fairfax digital division, which will escape the axe-wielding announced at its Australian and New Zealand broadsheets, boosted profits by more than 50 per cent in Australia and New Zealand and is adding more staff to its existing 600.
In the days after Fairfax's main newspaper group announced staff cuts of 550 people, or 5 per cent of the workforce, Fairfax Digital chief Jack Matthews said the division had added about 100 people in the 2008 financial year.
Mr Matthews said staff growth would continue next year, although not at such a fast rate, and the group could pick up people who had lost their jobs in the newspaper division.
"We are operating in a very different environment but the same kind of pressures to be efficient and cost-effective exist here," Mr Matthews said.
"It's not like we have a blank chequebook. One difference is that our industry and our market are still high-growth areas and we need to invest in that growth.
"Even though revenue growth slowed a bit in the second half, year on year, the bottom line increased in the second half." MORE
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Are journalists just 'content providers for advertising platforms'?
First, the latest news, Australia's federal workplace minister expresses concerns about the strike:
(AAP) Fairfax strike of concern: Gillard
FEDERAL Workplace Relations Minister Julia Gillard says she is concerned about the industrial dispute affecting Fairfax daily newspapers and wants quality and diversity to be maintained in the media.
Journalists from Fairfax are on strike because of management plans to axe 550 jobs.
Ms Gillard told Network Ten today she was "concerned'' by the developments.
"I am someone who is concerned about the quality and diversity of our media market.''
The deputy prime minister called on both parties to talk.
"There's never been an industrial dispute in this country that wasn't solved by talking.
"I think when we look at the Fairfax dispute we need to remember that rule.''
And more editorial in support of The Sydney Morning Herald, this time from its rival paper The Daily Telegraph.
The Fairfax job cuts and the dragging down of an icon
Silver Surfer
Saturday, August 30, 2008 at 09:13pm
The shenanigans of the past week at Fairfax, publishers of The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald where journos, artists and photographers are on strike over plans for mass sackings, are another example of a big company putting its profits before people, but in this case we’re not just talking about its staff. There’s the loyal core of readers to consider in this as well, and it’s a key issue here because media companies really are a different kind of animal. Be that as it may, it’s still a classic case of the old muddle-headed, knee-jerk reverse thinking that too often seems to provide a quick and easy answer to the executives of corporate Australia, who appear to the average punter more interested in saving their own bonuses and delivering dividends to shareholders than doing the right thing in the first place by their customers, staff and clients.
There’s no doubt here they’ve run out of ideas; advertising revenues are down, no one’s buying the product – at least not in the numbers required to make them highly profitable operations, and readership has been on a steady decline – and so the only answer they can come up with is to make the situation worse by giving everyone the flick. Smart move. The so-called rivers of gold once provided by Fairfax’s classified advertising obviously aren’t translating to a challenging, new era in media brought about by the digital explosion, and even before last week’s announcement, staff numbers had been pared back.
One of the worst things about these kinds of disputes (at any company) is that invariably, the axe falls on the people who are working their guts out to put out a decent product, not the people who’ve either run them into the ground in the first place or who are more interested in stripping them down to increase returns. The staff at Fairfax now face a kind of nail-biting reverse lottery with 550 job cuts on the cards and too many will be wondering in the coming weeks whether they can still pay their mortgages. It won’t be an issue for the executives, though - they’ll still be pocketing the big paypackets and carrying on as usual. For now, anyway. MORE
(AAP) Fairfax strike of concern: Gillard
FEDERAL Workplace Relations Minister Julia Gillard says she is concerned about the industrial dispute affecting Fairfax daily newspapers and wants quality and diversity to be maintained in the media.
Journalists from Fairfax are on strike because of management plans to axe 550 jobs.
Ms Gillard told Network Ten today she was "concerned'' by the developments.
"I am someone who is concerned about the quality and diversity of our media market.''
The deputy prime minister called on both parties to talk.
"There's never been an industrial dispute in this country that wasn't solved by talking.
"I think when we look at the Fairfax dispute we need to remember that rule.''
And more editorial in support of The Sydney Morning Herald, this time from its rival paper The Daily Telegraph.
The Fairfax job cuts and the dragging down of an icon
Silver Surfer
Saturday, August 30, 2008 at 09:13pm
The shenanigans of the past week at Fairfax, publishers of The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald where journos, artists and photographers are on strike over plans for mass sackings, are another example of a big company putting its profits before people, but in this case we’re not just talking about its staff. There’s the loyal core of readers to consider in this as well, and it’s a key issue here because media companies really are a different kind of animal. Be that as it may, it’s still a classic case of the old muddle-headed, knee-jerk reverse thinking that too often seems to provide a quick and easy answer to the executives of corporate Australia, who appear to the average punter more interested in saving their own bonuses and delivering dividends to shareholders than doing the right thing in the first place by their customers, staff and clients.
There’s no doubt here they’ve run out of ideas; advertising revenues are down, no one’s buying the product – at least not in the numbers required to make them highly profitable operations, and readership has been on a steady decline – and so the only answer they can come up with is to make the situation worse by giving everyone the flick. Smart move. The so-called rivers of gold once provided by Fairfax’s classified advertising obviously aren’t translating to a challenging, new era in media brought about by the digital explosion, and even before last week’s announcement, staff numbers had been pared back.
One of the worst things about these kinds of disputes (at any company) is that invariably, the axe falls on the people who are working their guts out to put out a decent product, not the people who’ve either run them into the ground in the first place or who are more interested in stripping them down to increase returns. The staff at Fairfax now face a kind of nail-biting reverse lottery with 550 job cuts on the cards and too many will be wondering in the coming weeks whether they can still pay their mortgages. It won’t be an issue for the executives, though - they’ll still be pocketing the big paypackets and carrying on as usual. For now, anyway. MORE
Quality v quantity
With the impending Fairfax cuts in Australia comes more opinion pieces about the future of journalism. This one from Jack Waterford in The Canberra Times is one of the better ones I have read.
I like what he writes right at the end:
"The real test of it all is not with newspaper bottom lines. It is with circulation and readership, bearing in mind that the core readership is of baby boomer age or of the generation above it. By no means does it follow that younger journalists will have lower standards. Or that the simultaneous renewed focus on ''new media'' means that proprietors have given newspapers away. But if 50-year-olds are not comfortable with being informed, or hectored, by 25-year-olds, it is likely the demise of the newspaper will be quicker."
The real threat to newspapers comes from quality not quantity
BY JACK WATERFORD
30/08/2008 10:14:00 AM
The big challenge for any professional journalist, particularly in a city such as Canberra, is that a good proportion of readers probably more than 30 per cent here know more about your subject than you do.
They know the subject because it is their job to know it. That job, perhaps in the public service, or business, or academia, gives them access to a lot of other information, including most of our sources of raw information. If the subject is within their field of interest, they may well have already skimmed the latest information upon it even before they pick up this newspaper, or another one. MORE
I like what he writes right at the end:
"The real test of it all is not with newspaper bottom lines. It is with circulation and readership, bearing in mind that the core readership is of baby boomer age or of the generation above it. By no means does it follow that younger journalists will have lower standards. Or that the simultaneous renewed focus on ''new media'' means that proprietors have given newspapers away. But if 50-year-olds are not comfortable with being informed, or hectored, by 25-year-olds, it is likely the demise of the newspaper will be quicker."
The real threat to newspapers comes from quality not quantity
BY JACK WATERFORD
30/08/2008 10:14:00 AM
The big challenge for any professional journalist, particularly in a city such as Canberra, is that a good proportion of readers probably more than 30 per cent here know more about your subject than you do.
They know the subject because it is their job to know it. That job, perhaps in the public service, or business, or academia, gives them access to a lot of other information, including most of our sources of raw information. If the subject is within their field of interest, they may well have already skimmed the latest information upon it even before they pick up this newspaper, or another one. MORE
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