‘Left them with no choice’: Nine journalists set to take industrial action against network
Nine Publishing journalists are set to take industrial action next week as the media giant continues to make 200 job cuts.
According to the the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance (MEAA), more than 90% of union members who took part in a vote were in favour of “protected action including an indefinite strike” in pursuit of a “fair deal in a new enterprise bargaining agreement”.
In a statement, the MEAA said that it notified Nine Publishing about the vote results on Friday afternoon, and that action would be taken by journalists at the Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Australian Financial Review, Brisbane Times and WAtoday, some of which are assigned to cover the Olympics in Paris starting next week.
It’s expected that they will take to social media and call for public support, while more action will be considered next week.
The tough reality is journalism has not been paying for some time as it has a) attracted less audiences and b) increasingly become easier to publish without editorial endorsement.
We can debate the merits of whether or not those things are good things – but the brutal truth is a lot of the profession is not commercially viable nor audience viable anymore.
If these journalists are so damn good, there is literally nothing stopping them from starting a paid Substack (maybe together)!