I remember buying my first Saturday newspaper Down Under on Saturday - 13 September 1980 - and the bundle of the Sydney Morning Herald was as literraly thick as a brick yet filled with wisdom and great stories at a cost of 20 cents. The Sydney Morning Herald
NineFairfax deal end of an era for Australia’s media titans
"Two companies, with very different histories and cultures, will be forced to work together in the never-ending search for efficiencies and revenue." (The Conversation)
Via BC born before 1980 AD:
Macquarie, Jefferies help stitch up Fairfax/Nine deal
A modern tragedy: Nine-Fairfax merger a disaster for quality media
Fairfax and Nine are merging. Here's what the deal involve
Crikey Says: Fairfax, we'll miss you
Vale Fairfax
Crikey Says: Fairfax, we'll miss you
Vale Fairfax
The proposed merger between Nine and Fairfax has met with little political resistance, with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull welcoming it as a move that will create a stronger company, in a validation of the government's reforms of media ownership laws. While the new company will be chaired by former Liberal treasurer Peter Costello, Labor did not come out in opposition to the merger but was worried about the potential loss of journalists' jobs and argued it strengthened for the case for well-funded public broadcasters.
The strongest reaction came from former prime minister Paul Keating, who savaged Channel Nine's news-gathering for possessing the "ethics of an alley cat" and warned the "pus will inevitably leak into Fairfax".
The merger is the first major media deal since the Turnbull government scrapped the two-out-of-three rule, which stopped a media outlet owning a newspaper, radio station and TV station in the same market. That was the biggest barrier to a merger such as the proposed Nine-Fairfax deal.
Speaking on Tasmanian radio, Mr Turnbull – who worked for Channel Nine under Kerry Packer's ownership as both a journalist and legal adviser – was supportive of the merger.
Paul Keating lashes Nine-Fairfax merger, Turnbull backs itPaul Keating slams Nine's takeover of Fairfax
In 1995, two of the most powerful media barons in the country, Rupert Murdoch and Kerry Packer, sat in Murdoch’s offices in London and plotted how they would divide up the spoils of the Fairfax empire.
As Colleen Ryan writes in her powerful history of the company, Fairfax: the Rise and Fall, the deal didn’t happen; it was scuppered when it ran into headwinds from Paul Keating, though the latter had no love for Fairfax either.
Spirit of Fairfax spurred on by its storied historyAs Colleen Ryan writes in her powerful history of the company, Fairfax: the Rise and Fall, the deal didn’t happen; it was scuppered when it ran into headwinds from Paul Keating, though the latter had no love for Fairfax either.
Journalists warn of culture differences and conflicts in reaction:
Journalists and media figures have had a mixed reaction to the Nine and Fairfax merger with former reporters who’ve worked with both companies warning there is a big culture difference between the two organisations.
Former Fairfax journalist Katherine Murphy reflected much of the print company’s mood around the announcement, tweeting she wanted to cry on hearing the news the merged company will be called Nine.
"The merged company will be called Nine". I've spent most of my working life at Fairfax. I want to cry.— Katharine Murphy (@murpharoo) July 25, 2018
Fairfax columnist John Birmingham and Guardian Australia senior writer Brigid Delaney, both of whom have worked at both organisations, flagged the cultural differences between the companies with Delaney warning Fairfax staffers should “hold onto their hats”.
I have worked at both Nine and Fairfax. Their cultures are very… different.— John Birmingham (@JohnBirmingham) July 25, 2018
I've worked for both Nine and Fairfax. Hang onto your hats Fairfax people – you're in for a wild ride and very different culture— Brigid Delaney (@BrigidWD) July 26, 2018
Media academic and Fairfax columnist Jenna Price had a fiery response to critics pointing out the company’s failing, saying “the next person who tweets or Facebooks me to say Fairfax bought it on itself will be consigned to a fiery hell.”
Guardian economics correspondent Greg Jericho was sceptical about Greg Hywood’s claim that Fairfax’s DNA would live on in the merged organisation.
"there will be plenty of Fairfax Media DNA in the merged company"You don't need to say that when it is actually a merger. You say that when you are being taken over.Like saying there will be plenty of Fitzroy DNA in the Brisbane Lions— Greg Jericho (@GrogsGamut) July 25, 2018
Finally, Crikey founder and media commentator Stephen Mayne pointed out the potential conflict for such a powerful media organisation to be chaired by former Liberal Party Treasurer, Peter Costello.
Optics are not great in having a Liberal PM endorsing so strongly a big media merger that will see the new super powerful company chaired by one of his fellow Liberal flag carriers in Peter Costello:https://t.co/eKwTAm0Vpa— Stephen Mayne (@MayneReport) July 26, 2018
