Nine Entertainment, Australia’s largest media conglomerate last week announced plans to chop 200 jobs. It blamed a weak promoting market and the non-renewal of a news content cope with Meta, the U.S. giant that operates Facebook and Instagram. It also follows scandals over alleged misbehavior by staff.
That could be a pattern that follows other media conglomerates in Australia.
The Murdoch family’s News Corp. Australia last month announced a A$65 million ($43 million) cost-saving program. It too blamed the business environment and Meta. Because of this, several senior executives are to lose their jobs and the group will likely be split into three divisions.
The Kerry Stokes-controlled Seven Media said earlier last week that it should seek A$100 million of cost savings, cut 150 jobs and in addition split itself into three parts.
Roughly half of the Nine lay-offs will are to return from its publishing businesses, with 38 from television news and current affairs and the rest from digital and head office. Australian media has reported that Stan, its wholly-owned streaming platform, is currently not affected by redundancies.
Nine CEO Mike Sneesby told staff that the corporate was “not resistant to the economic headwinds impacting many businesses globally.” The Australian economy could also be stalling. While unemployment stays low at around 4% of the working population, economic growth rates are marginal and rates of interest have been raised 13 times since May last 12 months.
Amid arguments about which party was the greater beneficiary of links to news media content, Australia famously enacted laws in 2021 that required major social media groups similar to Meta and Google to pay local media for its use of stories content.
The News Media bargaining Code requires the platforms to strike individual deals with media corporations or risk having a regulator step in and set a price. Meta and Google signed deal, but Meta says that it should not renegotiate the present agreement.
Australia’s traditional media groups have been hit by successive scandals.
Nine chairman Peter Costello resigned last month after an alleged scuffle with a reporter at Canberra Airport. Costello denies the claim.
In March, the group’s news head Darren Wick quit after allegations of alleged “misuse of power and inappropriate behavior” within the news room. A subsequent investigation found staff trauma.
“Recent reports that detail alleged serious failings of leadership in television news clearly tells me more works must be done to make sure we now have a secure and inclusive workplace throughout Nine,” said Sneesby in May.
In recent days, News Corp. is known to have dismissed journalist and on-screen presenter Paul Kent, following a street brawl.
And, over several months of court hearings in a defamation case, the Highlight investigative news team of Seven Media, was alleged to have paid rent for and allowed spending on drugs and prostitutes for former Liberal Party political aide Bruce Lehrmann. Seven was not the defendant within the case and individually issued a press release that said it was “appalled by the allegations made in recent days. We don’t condone the behaviors described in these allegations. They don’t reflect the culture of Seven”
