Nine CEO ‘disappointed’ as publishing staff strike on eve of 2024 Olympics

Nine’s embattled CEO has expressed his disappointment in an all-staff email after newspaper journalists voted to strike on the eve of the Olympics.

Nine chief executive officer Mike Sneesby has told staff he is “profoundly disappointed” after almost all journalists working for the company’s newspapers voted for a five-day strike on the eve of the 2024 Olympic Games opening ceremony, including 20 reporters on the ground in Paris.

Staff at the network’s mastheads, which includes The Age, the Sydney Morning Herald, Australian Financial Review, WAtoday and Brisbane Times, voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action from Friday at 11am AEST amid ongoing pay disputes.

Mr Sneesby, who is in Paris for the Games, sent a group email addressed to all staff Friday morning, arguing the network had invested “significantly” in its Olympics offering, referencing the $305 million exclusive rights deal that will see Nine host the Games up until Brisbane in 2032.

He said their decision to strike falls on “the eve of one of the biggest news events on the planet.”

“It goes without saying we’re profoundly disappointed by this decision as we have offered a new and improved agreement yesterday and were negotiating in good faith to a constructive outcome,” Mr Sneesby wrote in an email seen by news.com.au.

Nine CEO Mike Sneesby is in Paris. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

He continued, “While we recognise the right of unions to take industrial action, [publishing managing director] Tory [Maguire] and I firmly believe a return to the negotiating table is the best pathway to progressing the EBA (enterprise bargaining agreement).

“Regrettably, the union action comes on the eve of one of the biggest news events on the planet, the Paris Olympics. We have invested significantly to bring unrivalled coverage of the 2024 Games to our valued audiences through Nine’s world-leading journalism.”

Union representatives and management failed to find a resolution with annual pay rates during crunch talks on Thursday.

The unprecedented step to take industrial action for a minimum of five days will see most of the print journalists who were dispatched to Paris walk off the job, while “skeleton staff” will be on deck in newsrooms locally, sources told us.

Despite this, Mr Sneesby was adamant the company would still deliver “world-class coverage.”

“We have been preparing for the prospect of prolonged industrial action. We are well positioned to ensure our mastheads are produced and distributed for our loyal readers,” Mr Sneesby wrote.

“Our editorial teams will seamlessly deliver the best coverage for our audiences, so they have the news they want, when they want it and as it happens in Paris.”

Executives offered a 3.5 per cent annual pay rise to staff on Wednesday in a desperate bid to prevent strikes, compared to the 2 per cent which was already in place, during a meeting with MEAA representatives.

However, journalists – 90 per cent of whom are MEAA members – all but unanimously decided the offer wasn’t enough to prevent the strikes going ahead, which they initially announced on Monday following weeks of tension.

The opening ceremony for the Olympic Games kicks off on Saturday. Picture: Odd Andersen/AFP

Nine Network paid $305 million for exclusive rights to the Olympics. Picture: Nine

Multiple staff members told news.com.au reporters were “very angry” pay rises have failed to keep up with the soaring inflation rate, while the culture is suffering following the recent announcement of 200 planned redundancies, including 90 from the publishing division.

They say, as a result of the lack of staff, newspapers and websites over the weekend and into next week will lack colour and originality, with editors instead forced to rely on outsourced content from global publishing agencies as opposed to specialist reporting.

A Nine spokesperson said plans were in place to ensure production would “not be impacted” by the mass walkout.

“While it is disappointing the union has elected to proceed with industrial action, we can confirm comprehensive plans are in place to ensure the production and distribution of Nine Publishing mastheads will not be impacted and our readers will continue to have access to unrivalled coverage of the Paris Olympics,” the spokesperson said.

“Nine recognises the rights of unions to take industrial action but believe that a return to the negotiating table is the best way to progress the EBA.

“With our new and improved proposal representing a fair and reasonable offer for our people, we remain open to resuming good faith negotiations at the earliest opportunity.”

The publishing sector at Nine are “angry” over dismal pay rises, mass redundancies and the threat of AI. Picture: AAP/Dean Lewins

It’s undoubtedly causing a huge headache for Mr Sneesby. He had grand plans to cross-promote the Olympics across all platforms in a bid to “own” the event they paid a hefty sum to secure rights to.

While the bulk of expenditure has been dedicated to the live coverage on Channel 9, with a 200-strong production and broadcast team in the city, the time difference means Australians will likely be playing catch-up on events from overnight, where the importance of newspapers and digital media comes into play.

Aside from disagreements over pay rates, staff are also disgruntled over a lack of protection against the use of artificial intelligence (AI).

One staffer speculated the five-day strike, which cuts into one-third of the Olympics runtime, could be further extended if parties fail to come to an agreement.

Nine has sent a large team, from production, to publishing and broadcast, over to Paris for the Olympics.

It’s been a turbulent cost-cutting period for the local media industry, including at News Corp Australia and Seven West Media, after independent content deals with global tech giant Meta came to an end in June after three years.

Meta, which runs Instagram and Facebook, has neglected to renegotiate commercial deals to pay Australian media companies for their content. That money injected around $200 million into the sector.

It comes as Nine’s blockbuster deal to host the Olympics will potentially see the network cop a $60 million loss amid mounting production costs and a slump in advertising spend.

The Australian reports the company forked out at least $120 million for this year’s Games, which will predominantly air overnight in Australia.