Southern Cross Austereo confirms journalist redundancies in the wake of ‘streamlining’
Field
Broadcaster Southern Cross Austereo has confirmed journalists in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane have been made redundant in the wake of a “streamlining” of the company’s news services.
Among the most high profile of the departures is Hamish and Andy’s newsreader Geoff Field who yesterday confirmed his departure after 18 years.
Southern Cross Austereo (ASX: SCA) has refused to confirm the number of journalists departing but said in a statement: “Due to the streamlining of news services in the coming weeks, some of SCA’s best news journalists will regrettably be leaving the business in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide.”
This stinks for so many reasons.
Are we going to have news presented by Big Brother contestants next?
I fear for the real journalists who are losing their jobs and careers.
Helen – I am hoping to win MasterChef next year simply so I can get a job as newsreader on an FM station.
It was bad enough when they recruited reality stars to fill breakfast radio slots. Now you don’t even need training to be a journalist? Presenting on weather on Today and hosting a 1 hour gossip show does not equate to journalism experience. SCA has lost the plot – the wrong people are getting the sack.
and when her profile and popularity is no longer at an all time high?
Oh dear, short memories again Helen & DH. Many of the best and most “trusted” newsreaders (think Jim Dibble, Brian Henderson et al) were not journalists, they were just paid to read the autocue in a manner that the average Joe could understand. This idea that newsreaders have to be journalists is a fairly recent construct brought about because many journalists aspire to be stars rather than just writing the copy.