Linnell to The Australian’s journos: I’ll get to your job applications soon
Fairfax Metro Media’s editorial director Garry Linnell has hit back at The Australian’s suggestion that the company’s Canberra bureau is “on the verge of crisis” following the departure of Michelle Grattan to The Conversation and both Lenore Taylor and Katharine Murphy to The Guardian. Linnell claims that staff from The Australian had been asking him for jobs.
Asked about whether replacements had yet been appointed for the trio who worked on The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald, Linnell told Mumbrella: “We will certainly be making new appointments to our Canberra bureau and they will be announced shortly. Coverage of national affairs has always been a critical priority for us and remains so. Recent stories we have broken simply underline that.”
Asked whether he wanted to respond to use of the word “crisis” by The Australian, he said: “I don’t really need to respond to any suggestion made in the multi-million dollar loss-making newspaper, The Australian, except to send a message to all those staff on that masthead who have recently applied for roles at Fairfax that their applications will be considered once we have sorted through the backlog.”
Whenever there are suggestions that The Australian is loss making, its owner news Limited insists this is not the case.
Tim Burrowes
Tim Burrowes founded Mumbrella in 2008. He worked on Mumbrella until 2021. At various points he was editor, content director and editor-at-large.
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A fairfax editor talking about loss making newspapers??? That’s like the Vodafone CEO having a go at Telstra over their coverage or KFC having a go at Maccas over unhealthy food. The nerve of the bloke.
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Not nice to be so smug about those laid off journos… pretty ugly words actually.
Everyone knows Fairfax and News are in the same boat re: financials and layoffs. Neither of them are fooling anyone with their posturing.
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I’m slightly disappointed The Guardian have just poached Fairfax’s political reporters. It just means more of the same when many were hoping for a breath of fresh air.
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Andrew I’m not seeing any mention of laid-off journos …
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Ah the joy. The more I read about Mr L, the more I want to hear more from him. Funnily enough was just mentioning how Oz Media gossip columnist was remarkably shameless in his anti-Fairfax slant today, then read this. How about the angle re: the Guardian poaching that simply the high quality pool that Fairfax has to pick from. There are other ways of looking at things, interesting how often that Aust media columnist chooses a very particular lens. Seems quite personal grudge.
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@ Mike … Where have you been for the past three years? There have been hundreds of journalists laid off by both News and Fairfax and it will continue. Fairfax’s stupidly keep talking about it while News is at least smart enough to shut up. Each side bags the other – it’s been ever so and will be ever more. Well, at least until one of them falls off the proverbial cliff – and the totally inept leadership at Faifax seems to be winning the race to the edge.
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Journalists have always moved around. They go to where the future looks brightest.
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@Sally R: the tone and style of the Oz person is certainly marked with a somewhat acid character when it comes to Fairfax. One can only wonder.
As for Mr L, he is brave. We must admire his confidence levels when it’s fairly clear (take News Corp’s recent quarlerly P+L comments) that Australian print media is in the toilet. So he’s probably counting pencils and rubbers and stuff.
It would be no surprise if Fairfax came out with a stinking December result together with another consultant report (thanks Roger/Greg) suggesting yet more swingeing cuts (thanks MEAA) while the bloated ranks of overpaid gurus and strategists and consultants continue to stoke the overheads.
Perhaps the angst-ridden folk at the Oz are simply anxious that their financial results might become public before Fairfax slips under the waves?
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As a former editor of The Daily Telegraph, Garry Linnell would know better than most the state of The Australian’s profitability (or lack thereof).
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