Channel Nine has launched another round of redundancies just weeks after hundreds of jobs were cut.
Nine Entertainment’s publishing division has accepted 85 voluntary redundancies across Australian Financial Review, Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, WAtoday and Brisbane Times.
Among those leaving voluntarily are several veteran journalists and editors.
They include AFR senior correspondent Aaron Patrick, SMH chief sports writer Andrew Webster, former Herald gossip columnist Andrew Hornery and The Age culture editor Osman Faruqi. The Australian reported.
The company has also announced plans to cut up to 40 jobs, roughly half of the Pedestrian website’s workforce.
The Sydney Morning Herald understands that specialist publications do not expect to survive the cuts and will leave most, if not all, of their staff out of work.
A spokesperson for the network revealed that affected staff in the newsrooms, print operations and commercial and audience growth divisions will leave in the coming months.
‘As anticipated in June, we have been working with our people to reshape the publishing business to ensure a sustainable future in response to the challenging advertising market and the collapse of the Goal “We are in agreement,” the spokesman said.
Announced job cuts and a pay dispute led to around 500 unionised employees going on strike during the first five days of the Olympics (pictured)
Channel Nine has made 85 voluntary redundancies across its five outlets as part of 200 job cuts across the company (pictured, Melbourne headquarters)
‘We will provide support to all employees making the transition from the company.
‘Each of these individuals leaves with our gratitude and appreciation for their contributions to Nine’s world-class masts.’
The layoffs are part of a $30 million cost-cutting plan for the media giant that involves eliminating about 200 of its 5,000 total jobs.
The decision prompted the Pedestrian Group boss to announce his departure along with plans to close deals with Vice, Refinery29, Gizmodo, Lifehacker and Kotaku.
Around 500 journalists from across the country have gone on a five-day strike ahead of the Paris Olympics to demand better pay and working conditions.
Nine Entertainment’s publishing division has accepted 85 voluntary redundancies following a recent journalists’ strike.
In June, Nine’s editorial director Tory Maguire, who runs The Australian Financial Review, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, Brisbane Times and WAtoday, said the end of the Meta deal had also hit the publishing side of the business.
“This week… the agreement with Meta ended and the significant revenues from that agreement ceased,” he said.
‘While we are encouraged by our constructive discussions with the federal government regarding code enforcement, the only thing that is certain at this time is that we do not have an agreement in place with Meta.
‘The advertising market remains very challenging and while the publishing and sales teams are working together on a variety of new initiatives, our FY25 outlook reflects the market outlook.’
Previous staff cuts and a proposed 10.5 percent pay increase over three years led the Nine’s heavily unionized workforce to strike during the first five days of the Olympics.
Editorial staff returned to newsrooms across the country after top brass agreed to an additional one per cent pay rise among their demands.
These included ethical use of artificial intelligence, a commitment to reporting on workplace diversity and agreeing to negotiate for fair treatment for freelancers.
Nine’s announcement of the cuts also came the same week that around 150 staff were made redundant at Seven West Media in a major round of redundancies, with three senior executives leaving the company.
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