John B. Fairfax: Crikey on the way to becoming “worthwhile” news operation

Former newspaper baron John B. Fairfax and investor in Crikey publisher Private Media says the online website’s reputation has improved in recent years but conceded some of his wealthy friends still believe it is too left-wing.

Mr Fairfax became a backer of Private Media, the publisher that owns Crikey, The Mandarin and SmartCompany in 2017, and in 2019 injected more funding to establish the company’s investigative arm, Inq.

John B. Fairfax invested in Private Media, publisher of Crikey, in 2017.Credit: Wolter Peeters

“We went to invest in Crikey and we were concerned about that because at the time Crikey - I don’t want to put [activist and writer] Stephen Mayne down - but it didn’t have a great reputation,” Mr Fairfax said. “It’s changed altogether now under [chairman] Eric Beecher and [editor-in-chief] Peter Fray. They’re doing a very good job there although a lot of my friends come up and say ‘it’s far too left’. People will see things as they want to see them.”

Crikey was founded in 2000 by Mr Mayne, a former Walkley Award-winning journalist and staffer to Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett. He sold it in 2005 to Private Media, which is run by former editor-in-chief of The Sydney Morning Herald, Eric Beecher. Mr Beecher was the youngest editor of The Herald when he was appointed at 33-years-old. He had departed the newspaper by the time John B. Fairfax invested in its then owner Fairfax Media in 2007 as part of a merger with Rural Press Group.

Mr Fairfax made the comments about Crikey in a broader conversation about the benefit of independent media proprietors with a reputation for producing trustworthy, independent material. “It’s on the road to doing a good job. It’s not there yet,” Mr Fairfax said. “But I think that’s an organ that might develop into a very trustworthy and worthwhile news operation.”

Mr Fairfax invested in Private Media through his family investment firm Marinya Capital. He and businessman Cameron O’Reilly, a former chief executive of APN News & Media, later spent about $2 million establishing the investigative arm Inq in 2019. The division was hit early by financial pressure after it failed to meet certain targets but Marinya remains committed to the company.

Private Media has also received several government grants during that time including $456,000 for the development of a “professional network” for The Mandarin and $399,000 to improve Crikey’s customer engagement and distribution.

Mr Fairfax said there is a place for philanthropic efforts to help journalism thrive. “There are other aspects of journalism ... which I think require financial support and that is best done by philanthropic interests and not particular special group interests. That gives the potential for journalism to have what I regard as important: total independence and freedom to report as one should report.”

Australian philanthropist and billionaire Judith Neilson launched her eponymous institute in 2018, which provides grants and education programs to journalists and media organisations. Several journalists have been hired across Australia as a result of the grant. A group of philanthropists and investors also rescued national newswire AAP from closure in 2020 after its major shareholders, News Corp and Nine Entertainment Co. (owner of this masthead), decided it was no longer commercially viable.