News Ltd gobbles up the lot

It was barely hours after April Fools Day when the global giant sealed the deal on the multi-million dollar takeover of Federal Publishing Company’s (FPC) 46 newspapers, magazines and online properties from the Hannan family.

The acquired news titles include Wentworth Courier, Inner West Courier, Northside Courier and South Side Courier, with the circulation of several publications overlapping the coverage of the Murdoch empire’s local Cumberland papers in NSW.

Media academic and journalist Wendy Bacon said all media takeovers potentially affect editorial diversity because companies are always looking for economies of scale. “What they will do is to try to maximise their advertising dollar compared to their expenditure on editorial,” Ms Bacon said.

“So, logically, you would have to expect that there will be some rationalisation.”

Ms Bacon said suburban journalism is an important vehicle for community discussion and for stories that are unlikely to receive coverage in the metropolitan newspapers.

“There’s already masses of advertising and not much editorial. So you only have to lose a little bit of that editorial and your whole community group, or a whole controversy over a development, may not get any coverage at all.”

The depletion of local information coverage is likely to continue as media corporations gain in size and scope, an independent publisher said.

“From a consumer point of view, basically, two big conglomerates are the gatekeepers of all the information,” Alternative Media Group Publisher Lawrence Gibbons said.

The publisher of Sydney City Hub argued that while the Internet provides massive amounts of global information, local information at a community level is becoming rarer, due to cost-efficiency issues. “How many stories do you generate about a local council – particularly one that’s only of importance to people in that local community?”

While concerns have been raised by media observers over suburban editorial diversity, a spokesperson from News Limited told the Herald that there will be no changes in editorial direction after the takeover.

“It’s business as usual. Aside from the ownership, there’s little difference between the day before and the day after we took over,” the spokesperson said.

In terms of staff movement, it was revealed to the Herald that 17 FPC staff have been made redundant following the takeover due to duplication of roles in the new business.

A journalist and an art director reportedly resigned in the last month but the moves have not been attributed to the ownership changes.

It is also understood that senior FPC staffer Scott Abrahams left his former role as editor-in-chief and has been offered a position in the Hannan owned IPMG Interactive.

“There’s going to be a big change of culture for those Courier guys,” Media Alliance NSW Secretary Richard Harris said. “They had a pretty good team. And I am sad to say that the editorial management in Cumberland does not have the same standing with its employees.”

Mr Harris pointed out that fewer independent news outlets means journalists may feel the need to be more cautious to avoid falling out with their employers. “You need more voices in the marketplace. For those who are left behind, it’s an even greater responsibility on them to exercise their duties ethically without fear or favour,” he said.

“It’s not the Australian Democrats who are ‘keeping the bastards honest’, it’s the journalists.”

Source: South Sydney Herald May 2007 http://www.southsydneyherald.com.au/