What happened to send Fairfax Media into its current state
of irrelevance? Was it because ex
Woolworths Director, Roger Corbett took the reins? Is it because of the overt attempts to push a putrid Green agenda
onto people with functioning brain cells?
Is it because Fairfax Media continues to employ journalists who appear
to have carte-blanche to write rubbish that appeal only to a handful of
inner-city latte types? Is it because
there is no such thing as decent fact checking practiced by scribes on the
Fairfax payroll any more and sub-editing responsibilities have been trundled
offshore?
Yesterday, Advertising Entrepreneur, John Singleton
announced he has dipped his toe into the Fairfax pond, picking up about 1% of
stock and later announcing he and Mining Magnate friend, Gina Rinehart may be
hitching their wagons together. Good on
them! Rinehart with an 18% holding, or
thereabouts at the time, should have received a seat on the board as a matter
of course. Powers behind the Fairfax
throne were not having a bar of that.
They were frightened of losing journalistic independence or some such
rot. Journalistic independence at The
Age and Sydney Morning Herald?
Where? I must have missed that
particular show.
Major shareholders
should have a right to voice their opinions – not forced to sign some sort of
in-house document that effectively emasculates them before they can be
ushered into the hallowed chamber that is the boardroom.
Soon after she was denied a seat at the long table, Ms.
Rinehart divested herself of around 3% of her Fairfax portfolio.
Just look at the share price at close of trade on Friday
(28/12/2012) - $0.47. Over the past
five odd years, Fairfax share prices have taken a gutser. You would think somebody in a leadership
role would have been cognisant enough to notice that something in the machine
had seized up. Nope, nobody did and
that’s why Fairfax Media, in print form, will probably not be alive in three
years. Unless the Gina and John team
can flush the obstruction out of the pipe and allow fresh water to flow again.
Can they do it? I’m
not sure. The blockage in that pipe may
be too dense. Calling in a pair of
experienced plumbers now might be a futile exercise when the whole thing should
have been ripped up and replaced years ago.
Poor little Greens Member (for the next few months) for
Melbourne, Adam Bandt is wetting his pants about the Rinehart/Singleton threat to
the Green-sympathetic broadsheets which are losing money hand-over-fist before
his and everyone else’s very eyes. You
would think those Green types might have progressed to the level of
entrepreneurs themselves and organised enough Solar-powered Beanie Raffles and
Lentil Drives by now to raise funds to buy into Fairfax themselves.
Here’s Adsie foaming up a bit at the prospect the daily
broadsheet version of Green Left Weekly might be under assault!
…………………………………………………………..
Rupert or Gina? No thanks, say Greens
December 29, 2012 - 2:15PM
The Australian Greens are concerned that John Singleton and
his long-time friend Gina Rinehart are teaming up to push for a significant say
in Fairfax Media.
Mr Singleton and his partner, the venture capitalist Mark
Carnegie, announced late on Friday that their Gutenberg Investments had
purchased a stake in Fairfax, publisher of this website, and would align with
fellow shareholder, Gina Rinehart.
However, Greens Acting Leader Adam Bandt said Mr Singleton's
move was cause for concern.
"I'm very, very worried that up until now Gina Rinehart
has been unwilling to sign on to some very basic principles of journalistic
independence and if she's now joining forces with other Australian millionaires
in an attempt to set the Australian media in a different direction, I think
it's of great cause for concern," Mr Bandt told reporters in Melbourne.
"I don't want to wake up every morning and find that my
newspaper choice is between Rupert Murdoch and Gina Rinehart.
"I think that will be a bad state of affairs for
Australian democracy."
Mr Singleton said in a statement late on Friday that he had
already met with Ms Rinehart, but discussions are at a "very early
stage".
"It was clear to me from the start that there was a
mutual interest in working together," he said.
"However it is important to state that both Gina and I
believe that the lifeblood of Fairfax is the integrity and accuracy of its
journalism.
"This in no way would be compromised if Hancock
Prospecting and Gutenberg Investments had a significant say in the future of
Fairfax."
But Mr Singleton said the Fairfax Charter of Independence
should be reviewed.
"I was on the board of Fairfax when Sir Zelman Cowen
was chairman of the board some 20 years ago, when the existing Fairfax Charter
of Independence was drawn," he said.
"There is no reason why a group of eminent and
experienced Australians should not review the charter to ensure and enable its
relevance for today, and the current very challenging times for the
media."
He also took a swipe at the board and its effectiveness.
"I think the current board has struggled to come to
terms with the new environment, which is there for all to see in the share
price and the lack of direction at the company," he said.
Mr Singleton's decision to buy into Fairfax followed the
board's decision to "definitively closing the door" on a sale or
joint venture of their radio assets to his Macquarie Radio Network.
AAP
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