Fairfax journos hold protest against ‘the loss of 1000 years of experience’
Staff from Fairfax newspapers The Sydney Morning Herald and The Sun-Herald held a demonstration at Martin Place in Sydney this morning, in protest over the loss of 82 jobs that would result from a move to outsource part of the production function, reported earlier this month. Doug Anderson, a TV and film reviewer for the Sydney Morning Herald, told Mumbrella: “If they [Fairfax] had any conscience or any decency or any brains they would respond [to this protest] by throwing their idea out and keeping the staff they already have, instead of outsourcing to a company that they own 48% of.”
“They will lose a thousand years of experience if this move goes ahead,” he added.
Christopher Warren, federal secretary at Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance, said: “I know they [Fairfax] share our concerns about the quality of the paper. And I hope they come to realise that when you take the editing component out of the paper, that you inevitably lose that creativity that’s so essential for papers in the 21st century.”
There were reports that Fairfax CEO Greg Hywood walked passed the protest on his way to work, but no official response has been given by Fairfax at press time.
can’t see how this will change anything … a sad day for journalism (and the English language).
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sorry – but that’s just life. Real cost savings for companies streamlining. Its cheaper to make Cars in china so we make our Cars in china…that’s just the way of the free market…a petition and some silly signs will not help anything….welcome to reality
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The editorial product has been toothless for 4 – 5 years now, its a shame. now I guess it will be toothless and poorly spelt
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I heard they are outsourcing to two 500 year olds, so the experience will be about the same.
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Whilst I feel for those who may lose their jobs the simple fact is that this is a needed measure for Fairfax. Cutting jobs is never an easy task but, at times, a much needed one as SLAP has quite rightly pointed out.
Will the paper/s suffer as a result? No.
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Cost savings are important when quality is not. Cost savings are not what life is always about. Cost savings are what life is sometimes about.
The Herald is (was) quality journalism.
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they are so noble. i would be upset about losing my job! yet here they are, worried about the quality of the papers!
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Will the paper suffer as a result? A resounding yes!
Intellectual capital is the most important thing a newspaper has. This decision attacks the very basis of what a good newspaper is – its writers. It is an appalling decision.
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I don’t work at Farifax but am definately worried about the quality of my morning read.
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“Will the paper/s suffer as a result? No.”
Really? What do you base that assertion on? On the other side, there’s plenty of evidence that Pagemasters does a bad job – see, for instance, the Canberra Times dick-joke quiz debacle.
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I found two really bad editing mistakes in the news pages of my Age yesterday (one column said something _was_ announced today – strange concept in a morning newspaper produced yesterday). If quality is an issue, I guess we’ll have to see whether the outsourced editors make more or less mistakes than the inhouse editors.
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Fact: Fairfax publishes newspapers
Fact: The journos are unhappy
Belief: Moral at Fairfax would be down
Belief: Moral is important in any business
Assertion: My morning read will suffer in the short to meduim term (at least).
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And now Pagemasters is advertising for subs…?
http://www.seek.com.au/Job/sub.....s/19847093
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Don’t be ridiculous Tony Richardson!
Are you suggesting those two 500-year-olds could write from birth?!?
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Smh online is awful. It is like a bloody tabloid, when it shouldn’t be. It should take on The Australian, not news.com.au
Without decent sub editors the print copy could be equally worthless. Sadly.
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Fairfax isa sinking ship. Jump now and build for the future. Australian journalism is almost offically dead. The future is coprporate stooges, blogs and embedded reporting…
It is a crying shame but it is the end of an era.
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