2012 – The year in newspapers
In this roundup from the Encore and Mumbrella Annual, we look back at the year in newspapers.
In January, writer, editor and publisher of women’s website Mamamia.com.au, Mia Freedman, joins News Limited as a syndicated Sunday columnist jumping ship from Fairfax. In November, 10 months into a two-year contract, Freedman is unceremoniously dumped for “business reasons”.
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News Limited’s new boss Kim Williams announces a merging of the company’s newspaper and digital sales teams. It is the first of many announcements from the News camp in 2012.
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February begins with a release of the latest figures from the Audit Bureau of Circulations. The Sydney Morning Herald is the hardest hit, losing 12 per cent of its weekday circulation, with newspaper circulations atrophying by four per cent overall.
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In March, Melbourne’s News Limited tabloid the Herald Sun switches on a paywall, adopting a freemium model.
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News Limited closes Sunshine Coast paper the Noosa Journal along with the Maroochydore and Caloundra editions.
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n March, Sydney’s Sun-Herald newspaper relaunches, radically altering the structure of the paper. A month later, the cover price increases by 30c to $2.30. The paper sees a further 10.8 per cent decrease in circulation when the next round of figures from the Audit Bureau are released in May.
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Seven West Media, owner of The West Australian newspaper and Pacific Magazines, withdraws from The Australian Press Council in a potential blow to self regulation of the media.
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Melbourne’s Herald Sun finds itself at the centre of a media upset after breaking an embargo and publishing the results of the Logie awards. The editor, Simon Pristel, claims Google accessed the paper’s internal systems to get hold of an ‘unpublished’ story which Google denies.
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In April, Fairfax Media shares slump to an all-time low of 69c.
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In May, Garry Linnell is promoted to editorial director of the company’s metro media division. His remit is to spearhead the company’s Editorial Review Project and drive what Fairfax calls a ‘fully integrated newsroom’.
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Fairfax announces that it will outsource production of its regional newspapers to New Zealand. Fairfax journalists go on strike. Despite talks involving the journalist’s union, Fairfax continues with its plans to outsource. The company’s share price drops to a new low of 56c.
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In June Fairfax announces The Age and SMH will go tabloid in nine months’ time and that 1,900 jobs will be cut. The Sydney Morning Herald editor-in-chief and publisher Peter Fray exits the company as does editor Amanda Wilson and The Age editor Paul Ramadge. Sean Aylmer takes the reins of the SMH with Darren Goodsir taking on the role of director of news for the paper. In October, Fray joins news agency AAP, launching a service offering freelancer copy from a stable of high-calibre writers.
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News Limited CEO Kim Williams explains in a video address to staff how News will reorganise itself from 19 divisions to five. Redundancies are expected but the number of jobs that will be lost is not confirmed.
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Editor of Melbourne’s Herald Sun Simon Pristel leaves the paper to head up Melbourne’s Seven news division. He is replaced by Damon Johnston.
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Kate Cox becomes the third editor in three years of Sydney’s struggling Sun-Herald.
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In August, Fairfax Media posts a $2.7b loss. The value of newspapers including The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Australian Financial Review plummet from $3.25bn to $1.29bn, due to write-downs. The company’s share price drops to 46c.
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September begins with News Limited outsourcing copy editing for its community titles to Pagemasters.
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The Australian is named newspaper of the year at the PANPA Newspaper of The Year Awards.
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Neil Breen resigns as editor of Sydney’s The Sunday Telegraph. A month later he announces his move to television to produce Nine’s Today show. He is replaced by Mick Carroll.
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Figures released in November by the Audit Bureau of Circulations see the Sun-Herald drop 21 per cent in the quarter from July to September. The Age is the worst hit daily paper dropping 16.9 per cent with SMH falling 15.9.
- This list first appeared in the Encore and Mumbrella Annual available in the App store and Google Play.
“Editor of Melbourne’s Herald Sun Simon Pristel leaves the paper to head up Melbourne’s Seven news division.”
That’s not quite right; he left the paper, then he got the Seven job. It wasn’t a case of leaving in favour of another job.
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Wasn’t Simon Pristel told he no longer had a job at the Herald Sun? Doesn’t sound like he had a choice but to leave. The seven news gig is a big step down for him surely…
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