Fairfax staff protest job cuts

STRIKING Fairfax journalists have rallied in Sydney and Melbourne as the backlash grows against the embattled media company’s decision to cull editorial staff.
The protests come on the first full day of a seven-day strike for staff at the Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Australian Financial Review in response to the company’s decision to cut 125 staff in a bid to save A$30 million (K70.9 million).
Backlash was growing about that figure, with news it was approximately the same amount that Fairfax executives – including chief executive Greg Hywood – could claim in recent bonuses.
“This is money they’re taking out of the company into their own pockets, at the same time they’re taking money out of the newsroom,” Sydney Morning Herald’s striking science editor Marcus Strom said.
Dozens of striking Fairfax staff in Sydney camped outside a hotel ahead of a presentation by Hywood to investors.
“We are determined to get our message through to the company, to the people of Sydney, to the investors, the advertisers, that the board has to change its strategy. It has to stop treating journalism as the bastard child,” Strom said.
Editorial staff at Fairfax’s other newspapers including The Canberra Times and The Brisbane Times are also striking in solidarity.
The Fairfax cuts are just the latest in a long string of journalist job losses in recent years, with thousands of Australian journalists having been put out of work as traditional business models collapse.
Last week, Channel 10 announced cuts were likely after recording poor revenues and experts estimate the printed daily newspaper has at best five years left. South Australian senator Nick Xenophon said he believed it was time for the Government to intervene. -AAP