Friends blame the fall of the House of Fairfax on pride, stupidity, greed and hubris
The Fall of the House of Fairfax. Australian Securities Exchange, yesterday:
Fairfax share price … 10 March 2000 $2.42 … 27 July 2018 80c.
Independent! Always! John McDuling, The Sydney Morning Herald, July 26:
Fairfax CEO Greg Hywood … said: “There is nothing in this deal that would remotely risk the independence of our journalism.”
Independent? Carbuncle! Stephen Long, ABC online, July 26:
(Former prime minister Paul Keating says) the “pus” from the “carbuncle” that is Nine’s news culture will infect Fairfax … Mr Keating said … “Channel Nine will run the editorial policy” … (and) there had been “no moral compass in the guidance of (Nine’s) news management ever … Foot-in-the-door journalism, chequebook journalism, you name it, they’ve been in it” … Nine had “never other than displayed the opportunism and ethics of an alley cat … Through various changes of ownership, no one has lanced the carbuncle at the centre of Nine’s approach to news management … And, as sure as night follows day, that pus will inevitably leak into Fairfax.” The Fairfax board of management “sold out”, he told 7.30. “They sold out the culture, they sold out the quality, they sold out their opportunity.”
Tragedy! Denis Muller, The Conversation, July 26:
All deaths are sudden, even if long expected … And if ever there was a time of grief for journalism in Australia, it is today, with the announcement that Nine Entertainment is taking over Fairfax Media … there is a huge question mark over the future editorial quality of the newspapers … The Fairfax story has all the elements of Greek tragedy: heroism in the creation of the company, then a combination of comedy, pride, stupidity, greed, arrogance and hubris to bring it down.
Horror! Luke Henriques-Gomes, Guardian Australia, July 26:
Fairfax journalists react with horror at Nine takeover … Andrew Jaspan, who edited The Age between 2004 and 2008 … (said) “The first thing I thought was, ‘This is a very sad day for Australian journalism … Then I thought, ‘it’s not a sad day, it’s much worse than being sad’. It’s a bad day.” Jaspan said … the “saddest aspect” of the merger was “why we’ve got to this situation … I think somebody needs to look very closely at what I consider to be the directionless and pointless approach that the current management has towards looking after these great brands … It’s brought us to the situation where they’ve given up and said, ‘You have a go at running it because we just don’t know how to make it work.’ ”
Quality journalism! Nicola Philp, The Age, July 25:
This week Victoria has endured a run of wild wind across the state … Here are a few wind observations, with no associated empirical evidence: Wind provides unexpected and free resistance training when walking into it … Windy weather usually means it’s recycling week … The wind seems to always blow in the rain at school pick-up time … Hanging out washing requires at least double the usual pegs … Mother Nature, please can you back off on the wind a little? I did try hurling a cash offering into the air, but it whipped away over the fence and landed slap across my neighbour’s face.
Waleed Aly, The Project, Network Ten, July 19:
I live in Melbourne and the only place I have heard concerns about Sudanese gangs is on talkback radio … If there really are a bunch of African gangs, frankly I am offended to not have at least been (invited) to join one.
Erin Pearson, The Age, July 27:
A mother had a gun held to her head and her face pistol-whipped during … a terrifying overnight carjacking … The attackers have been described as being … of African appearance.