Fairfax Media has announced plans to restructure its New England operations, reduce its workforce and invest in new digital publishing technology to revitalise its newspapers and websites.
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The company is overhauling its Australian Community Media (ACM) division to build a stronger, more sustainable and modern media network of newspapers and websites serving regional, rural and suburban Australia.
Staff across the region were briefed on Thursday about the proposed changes at The Northern Daily Leader, Tamworth Times, Namoi Valley Independent, The Armidale Express and Express Extra, Goondiwindi Argus, Country Leader, Walcha News, The Inverell Times, Glen Innes Examiner, The Guyra Argus, Tenterfield Star, Moree Champion and the Border News.
Director of ACM John Angilley said the new digital-first publishing system to be rolled out in New England was already in use at more than 50 newspapers across the country.
“Our mastheads must embrace truly transformational change and better focus resources to ensure they remain the most trusted source of news and information for years to come,” Mr Angilley said.
Based on a detailed assessment of the needs of the business, the proposal included training, new ways of working and new equipment for journalists and sales teams, and refreshed newspaper designs.
“Our journalists and our sales teams will work with new skills, capabilities and resources so they can continue to do what they do best - create quality journalism and connect advertisers to our audiences,” Mr Angilley said.
“Our NewsNow editorial model involves journalists reporting local news across multimedia as well as being trained to write headlines and captions and take photographs.
“Quality-checking processes and procedures are built into the system and our editors remain responsible for maintaining editorial standards.”
If the restructure goes ahead the company expects to call for voluntary redundancies of about 22 full-time equivalent positions from the New England operating group, mostly administration roles and editorial production functions such as sub-editing.
Consultation with employees is now under way.
Business manager of ACM’s New England operations Jason King will oversee the restructure, with group sales manager Ian George and group managing editor Juanita Greville leading the and sales teams and editorial, respectively.
Proposed publishing changes include new distribution strategies for the free weekly publications Tamworth Times and Armidale Express Extra.
Mr King said the company was “responding to how our audiences are consuming news and information”.
“Our business is evolving for the future by adopting new ways of working so our journalists and sales teams can continue to serve local communities,” he said.
The popular AgQuip Field Days at Gunnedah and coverage of the Tamworth Country Music Festival would not be affected by the changes.
Mr Angilley said no final decisions had been made about the New England operating group.
“Our full focus and attention in the weeks ahead is consulting with our staff to ensure everyone fully understands the proposal and has the opportunity to share their feedback with us,” he said.
Thursday’s announcement follows the introduction of new technology and new ways of working at more than 50 ACM mastheads in the Illawarra, South Coast and south-west regions of NSW, regional Queensland, Victoria and South Australia.
Fairfax’s ACM network of hundreds of newspapers and websites serves regional, rural and suburban communities in every Australian state and territory.
