Fairfax Media to cut 47 jobs from Illawarra and South Coast newspapers
Fairfax Media has confirmed 47 journalists, photographers and commercial staff from its Illawarra and South Coast newspapers will lose their jobs as part of a restructure of Fairfax papers from Wollongong down the coast to the Victorian border.
Fairfax Media’s Australian Community Media director John Angilley has said the plan would “revitalise” newspapers and allow staff “to adopt more efficient ways of working”, according to the Illawarra Mercury, a comment the boss of union representing journalists has described as “Orwellian”.
Paul Murphy, Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance CEO told Mumbrella: “It is Orwellian for the company to say it will “revitalise” its papers when it is slashing staff numbers. We do not accept the company’s decision and for that reason we are seeking further assistance from the fair Work Commission.”
The cuts will see The Illawara Mercury, which is based in Wollongong, lose around half its editorial team, with a third of reporters, half the photographers and all of production positions will be made redundant under the restructure.
The merger of the Lake Times and Wollongong Advertiser will go ahead as planned while the Nowra-based South Coast Register will drop from a tri-weekly to a bi-weekly publication.
Fairfax says it will reinstate 2.7 full-time jobs across 14 mastheads compared to the original cuts proposal announced in May, with the Mercury set to gain one extra reporter and half a full-time photography position under the new plan.
Angielly described the restructure as a “substantial upgrading for our newsrooms”.
‘‘Our staff will adopt more efficient ways of working and new technology to improve how they provide local news and information to their communities, with our journalists and photographers continuing to do what they do best – telling local stories,’’ he said in a report by the Illawarra Mercury.
‘‘This is a substantial upgrading for our newsrooms with new systems, digital-first editorial production practices and quality checking processes plus a vastly better local sales approach.
“With the continued support of our audiences and advertisers, our plan for the future will help our newspapers and websites remain sustainable and vibrant local voices.”
Fairfax has been approached for comment but had not responded at the time of publishing.
MEAA media director Katelin McInerney said the union understands newspapers have a challenging future, but raised concerns over titles ability to provide adequate coverage for their communities with less staff.
‘‘We understand that, while newspapers face a challenging future, we believe the only way forward is to invest in quality local journalism,’’ she said.
‘‘While we welcome any additional positions saved, staff still hold grave concerns about their ability, with these levels of job cuts, to provide the coverage their community expects and deserves.’’
Following the restructure announcement MEAA Fairfax members passed a resolution voicing their “extreme disappointment”, saying they will seek further assistance from the Fair Work commission.
The members are also seeking a commitment from the Fairfax board to remain committed to the Fairfax mission statement “Independent. Always” by removing any reference in editorial position descriptions requiring editorial staff to identify “sponsorship messages”.
“We wish to express our extreme disappointment and concern at the announcement today that the ACM would proceed with its plan to drastically cut editorial jobs at the Illawarra Mercury,” the resolution said.
“We restate our position that cuts to editorial staff will not safeguard or secure the future of our masthead, and that the only way to adapt and evolve to the changing media landscape and the financial challenges this represents is to invest in quality journalism. We feel in this regard we have no choice but to seek further assistance from the Fair Work commission
“We remain committed to the Fairfax mission statement of “Independent. Always” and as such, our position remains that any reference in editorial position descriptions requiring editorial staff to identify “sponsorship opportunities” and for editorial staff to work closely with the commercial arm of the business should be removed.
“We seek a commitment from you and from the Fairfax board that the principles of editorial independence will be upheld, and these words removed from editorial position descriptions, now and in the future.”
Voluntary redundancies opened for all staff on Thursday.
Miranda Ward
The resolution in full:
We wish to express our extreme disappointment and concern at the announcement today that the ACM would proceed with its plan to drastically cut editorial jobs at the Illawarra Mercury
We restate our position that cuts to editorial staff will not safeguard or secure the future of our masthead, and that the only way to adapt and evolve to the changing media landscape and the financial challenges this represents is to invest in quality journalism. We feel in this regard we have no choice but to seek further assistance from the Fair Work commission
We remain committed to the Fairfax mission statement of “Independent. Always” and as such, our position remains that any reference in editorial position descriptions requiring editorial staff to identify “sponsorship opportunities” and for editorial staff to work closely with the commercial arm of the business should be removed.
We seek a commitment from you and from the Fairfax board that the principles of editorial independence will be upheld, and these words removed from editorial position descriptions, now and in the future.
Given that ACM management has so far refused to do this, Mercury staff have, in the interest of putting in place stronger protections to that ensure editorial staff maintain their editorial integrity and independence, agreed to the addition of wording to that effect. We consider this to be an interim measure until this matter can be fully resolved.
In order to protect editorial integrity and the Fairfax brand and reputation, we recommend to the board that the ACM division adopt the Fairfax Charter of Editorial Independence and/or the MEAA Code of Ethics as a matter of urgency, or work with metropolitan house committees and MEAA representatives to create a division-specific version.
We seek your urgent reply to the matters raised above.
Miranda Ward worked for Mumbrella from 2013 to 2017, eventually becoming deputy editor. Miranda joined Mumbrella in September 2013 from Sky News.
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