A wave of departures has hit some of Australia's most prominent news organisations, with up to 85 journalists, many of them senior, accepting voluntary redundancy packages from Nine Entertainment. This marks the second significant exodus of editorial talent since 2012, when the company, formerly known as Fairfax Media, shed more than 150 journalists. A further 100 staff left in 2017.
The latest departures come at the end of a turbulent period for Nine Entertainment, during which 500 journalists at its publishing arm took industrial action over pay negotiations and announced cuts across the media business. The journalists went on strike for five days during the Paris Olympics, disrupting production of the *Sydney Morning Herald*, *The Age*, *Australian Financial Review*, *Brisbane Times
and *WAtoday*.
The departures include a number of highly respected figures. *The Age
has lost several senior staff, including Walkley Award-winning social affairs editor Jewel Topsfield, senior writer Royce Millar, North American correspondent Farrah Tomazin, books editor Jason Steger, Indigenous affairs journalist Jack Latimore, culture editor Osman Faruqi, and music writer and editor Martin Boulton.
Nine Entertainment has confirmed that the majority of the 85 departures were voluntary. "As foreshadowed in June, we have been working with our people in reshaping the publishing business to ensure a sustainable future in response to the challenging advertising market and collapse of the Meta deal," a spokesperson said. "We have now concluded this process, with around 85 people from our newsrooms, print operations and audience and commercial growth divisions regrettably leaving the business over coming months. We will be providing support for all employees transitioning from the business. Every one of these people depart with our gratitude and appreciation for their contributions to Nineâs world-class mastheads."
The *Australian Financial Review
has also seen significant departures, including legal editor Michael Pelly, energy and climate change writer Ben Potter, and senior correspondent Aaron Patrick.
The *Sydney Morning Herald
is losing chief sports writer Andrew Webster, Walkley Award-winning cartoonist John Shakespeare, senior writer Andrew Hornery, Walkley Award-winning author Helen Pitt, and commercial property editor Carolyn Cummins.
The strike was triggered by the announcement in June by Nine Entertainment CEO Mike Sneesby that the company was cutting 200 jobs due to the challenging economic conditions facing the media sector. Sources have told *Guardian Australia
that many journalists were unsuccessful in their applications for redundancy, as the number of applicants exceeded the available positions. One of those whose application was rejected was *The Age*'s deputy news director Angus Livingston, who subsequently resigned to take up another role.
The industrial dispute highlighted tensions between the publishing and television arms of Nine Entertainment, which merged with Fairfax in 2018. The latest cuts come just weeks after News Corp Australia announced redundancies for some of its most experienced journalists, as part of significant cuts to its national reporting team and its *Herald Sun
and *Daily Telegraph* newspapers.
Murdoch's Australian arm has been quietly reducing its costs in response to a slow advertising market and the loss of revenue from Meta deals. The departures from Nine Entertainment are a further sign of the ongoing pressures facing Australia's media industry, as it struggles to adapt to a rapidly changing digital landscape.