Despite preliminary industry speculation and its share price hitting a record low of 62.5 cents on Friday, Fairfax Media is denying weekday editions of its mastheads will cease production.
The possible discontinuation of the print versions of weekday editions The Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) and The Age was discussed at a Fairfax Board meeting last week, News Limited's The Australian has reported today.
The possible acquisition of properties including Ten Network Holdings was apparently also discussed, as was the possible rolling back of Fairfax's involvement with the Australian Associated Press' Pagemasters company, where 100 of Fairfax's sub-editor jobs were outsourced to last year.
The Australian's industry source stated these plans were in “very early days” and were mostly “pie in the sky” thinking.
Fairfax Media has strenuously denied weekday print editions will be cut from production.
“We are not withdrawing from print,” commercial director of Fairfax Metro Media Ed Harrison told AdNews. “We're very clear on that.”
Fairfax has heavily publicised its approach of a “managed reduction” of its print sales, focusing on encouraging audiences to take up Fairfax products on digital platforms. This approach has seen digital audience numbers soar.
"There are no plans to stop our Monday to Friday print runs," Fairfax Media communications director Brad Hatch told AdNews. "Fairfax Media continues to focus on profitable circulation and growing its large multi-platform audience."
Fairfax's share price has continued to tumble, hitting an all-time low of 62.5 cents on Friday. As of this morning, Fairfax shares have recovered slightly, trading at 63.5 cents.
“Our strategic focus on sustainable and profitable circulation for our print platform is not impeding the ability of our mastheads to continue the growth of our total audience,” Fairfax Metro Media chief executive Jack Matthews said recently.
Fairfax is currently in the midst of reorganisation as part of an editorial structure review, with staff potentially hearing the results of this reorganisation this week.
“Breaking news is now too slow: we need to evolve to where the audience is going,” outgoing chief executive and publisher of Fairfax Media's digital arm Jane Huxley said at an industry breakfast last week. “News breaks in social media and people then turn to a credible source for real-time news. Our stories will update every ninety seconds. We're investing in journalism that people will log in for.
“That's Fairfax's biggest investment for the 2012-13 financial year: editorial innovation.”
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