Economy
And so, it’s come to this …
And so it’s come to this. Well it’s not as if they weren’t warned. Six years ago I wrote this at this wondrous, We’ll-be-alright-backslapping-Walkley-event …
Foolish, foolish man, that you should question the smooth rolling out of cliche and presentation over substance.
The slick PR of another Walkley debate knocked off in the colonies.
Beautifully presented with a lovely talking head from the Guardian; who was intelligent and engaged, and funny.
But utterly, finally, useless. You could not help but feel that here was the engagement of media management and union, to provide the same truth: We’re going to be alright aren’t we?
Bullshit.
You are in more trouble than you will ever realise.
And no nice sculpted, censored presentations will make the slightest bit of difference.
Media is in the middle of revolution. As far-reaching and profound as the invention of the printing press.
And there, fundamentally, viscerally, was the problem with last night’s seminar.
It was all too touchy feely, all-too familiar media-speak, superficial, bland rolling out of cliche: how often did we hear of brand recognition, of business model?
I’m sorry; I’m an MEAA former state VP; but i was embarrassed by this. This is not inquiry; this is media-management-union-barracked propaganda.
I should have known: I did get an email warning me that I should not be off-topic?
• Damien McIntyre, ABC: Launceston Examiner and Burnie Advocate could lose editorial and admin staff in Fairfax restructure
Up to 13 full-time jobs could be cut at two Tasmanian newspapers, as Fairfax undertakes a major restructure.
The Examiner and Advocate Staff in Launceston, Burnie and Devonport were told about the proposed changes this afternoon.
Voluntary redundancies will be called for about eight full-time positions in editorial, with the remainder from administration and sales.
The cuts are part of Fairfax’s NewsNow system, which first started in 2013 in Victoria and will soon be rolled out in Tasmania.
Earlier this year the company announced 70 jobs would be axed in the New South Wales Hunter region.
Director of Fairfax’s Australian Community Media (ACM) John Angilley said the proposal included investing in a new digital-first publishing system, equipping journalists and sales teams with new technology and skills, and a refreshed newspaper design.
“Our NewsNow editorial model involves journalists reporting local news across multimedia, as well as being trained to write headlines and captions and take photographs,” he said
“Quality checking processes and procedures are built into the system and our editors remain responsible for maintaining editorial standards.”
EARLER on Tasmanian Times …
• Mercury: The Fall … and why it matters …
• mark in Comments: Who cares. If either of these newspapers died tomorrow we wouldn’t lose a thing. They don’t hold anyone to account. They don’t shine a light on Erich, Gunns, FT, Ta-An, Shree, Federal, Thuggo etc etc. If you’re an average bogan up before the courts you’ll get your front page though. They exist for their own ends. They don’t attempt to educate. They pull the wool over the eyes of their readers. They shake their pom poms and cheerlead uneconomic dud projects in ecologically sensitive areas. When those projects inevitably fall over they never explain the reason. They’re happy to let the myths of Nikolic, Whiteley, Abetz & their faceless goons control the narrative.
• Rose Grant, ABC: Tasmanian regional newspaper bucks the trend of falling circulation … “And in terms of a local newspaper and the whole media cycle, I am very buoyant and optimistic about local newspapers because things that happen in [Tasmania’s] north east, for example, you can’t hop online and find out about the bad state of the pot holes in the road to Bridport. “You won’t get the Friday netball scores. “You won’t find out about Mr Beattie topping the sales with the sheep. “You won’t find out about that online. “You won’t find out about that in a nationally owned newspaper. “But you will find out about it in a local newspaper. “And our circulation has increased, our advertising revenue has increased, because we made the strategic decision that we will focus on local issues and local people.”