Journalists from Nine newspapers begin five-day strike ahead of Olympics

 

In short

Journalists at Nine newspapers have started a five-day strike outside offices in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth.

Staff voted to strike on Thursday afternoon after rejecting a pay offer from management on the eve of the Paris Olympics opening ceremony.

What's next?

A Nine spokesperson said the action was "disappointing" and production would not be impacted.

Media executives from Nine say they remain "very confident" in their Olympics coverage, despite hundreds of newspaper journalists launching a five-day strike on Friday.

Staff from The Age, Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian Financial Review, Brisbane Times, and Watoday started rallies outside of their offices in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth on Friday morning.

They plan to strike for five days after rejecting a revised pay offer from Nine on Thursday.

In an email sent to staff and seen by the ABC, Nine CEO Mike Sneesby said management was "profoundly disappointed" in the action but had been preparing for it.

Tory [Maguire] and I remain very confident our newspapers will deliver comprehensive, world-class coverage of the Olympics across our online and print assets," he said.

Staff have been in negotiations for months with Nine Entertainment executives to secure a pay deal that is slightly higher than inflation, which unions members say is necessary after they agreed to a pay freeze during the COVID pandemic.

An offer of 3.5 per cent in the first year, 4 per cent in the second year and 3 per cent in the third year was rejected by the union yesterday.

Members are also fighting for a commitment to improving diversity, safeguards around the use of artificial intelligence, and a better deal for freelancers that includes paying superannuation and a transparent pay system.

In Melbourne, about 100 editorial staff from The Age have walked off the job.

Staff holding placards and wearing t-shirts printed with Don't Torch Journalism walked out as a group from their headquarters in Docklands.

State political reporter at The Age and Media, Arts and Entertainment Alliance member Broede Carmody said journalists did not want to walk out today but were forced to show how serious they were about a better enterprise bargaining agreement.

"Over the course of this entire EBA negotiating period, members have asked for one single thing — a fair pay increase that's in line with inflation," he said.

Nick McKenzie, an investigative journalist from The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, told ABC Radio Melbourne staff were asking for a fair go from management.

"It's a tough job, it's a difficult job, and what they're asking for is some support from management to do that journalism."

He said some reporters would be on strike from Paris, and it would affect the newspapers' coverage of the Olympics.

Nine says 'disappointing' strike won't harm coverage

A Nine spokesperson said while the industrial action was "disappointing", the production of its publishing mastheads would not be affected.

"Nine recognises the rights of unions to take industrial action but believe that a return to the negotiating table is the best way to progress the EBA," the spokesperson said.

"With our new and improved proposal representing a fair and reasonable offer for our people, we remain open to resuming good faith negotiations at the earliest opportunity."

"We can confirm comprehensive plans are in place to ensure the production and distribution of Nine Publishing mastheads will not be impacted and our readers will continue to have access to unrivalled coverage of the Paris Olympics."

Nine is the official Olympics broadcaster, and 18 staffers have travelled to Paris as part of planned coverage. The strike will not affect television coverage.

MEAA director Michelle Rae said the decision to strike came after 90 redundancies were announced across the publications due to the end of a funding deal with Facebook parent company Meta.

The deal was struck three years ago with the Coalition government under the News Media Bargaining Code to pay publishers for using news stories on its new tab.

But earlier this year, Meta ended its agreement with a raft of Australian news organisations, including the ABC.

Melbourne staff locked out of office

On Friday afternoon, union members in Melbourne found out they had been locked out of Nine newspapers headquarters.

An email to members seen by the ABC told staff on strike their security passes had been deactivated and would no longer let them into the building.

Members have also been booted from their work Slack account and some staff cannot access their work email account.

Journalist and co-chair of The Age house committee Bianca Hall said staff had gone to a local pub for a break and would continue action on Monday.

"Everyone needs a break after the hard work we've been putting in," she told the ABC.

"We have 30 days of protected action and a range of options within those 30 days including [making statements on] social media and public statements."

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-07-26/nine-strike-the-age-smh-afr-watoday-meaa/104145884

 

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Rupert scams his kids | Scam of the Week

by Michael West

https://michaelwest.com.au/rupert-scams-his-kids-scam-of-the-week/

 

Surely Rupert Murdoch isn’t scamming his own children! And ex-wives! Also in Scam of the Week, tax dodgery, Bridget McKenzie, the ‘baby recession’, Nine, nuclear, Paris Olympics, PwC, Barbara Pocock, Andrew Leigh,, and Madeleine King’s fossil spree #auspol

 

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A FEW TOONS FROM THE PAST...:

 

 

 

News Corp – How a rogue organisation operates. A repost from 27 October 2017-slightly updated.     By John Menadue

 

Rupert Murdoch demands loyalty from his followers, not competence.

A repost from August 28, 2022

The way News Corp operates must be traced to Murdoch himself for he has told us that ‘for better or worse (News Corp) is a reflection of my own thinking, my character and my values’.

Let me give some examples of how News Corp operates.

Ken Cowley was a very senior and loyal executive of News Corp for many years. He was my production manager in Sydney at News Ltd. Unwisely, three years ago Cowley told the Australian Financial Review that Lachlan Murdoch was not particularly smart and that The Australian ‘is pathetic’.

People were wheeled out within 24 hours to defend Lachlan. Cowley was brought to heel. The Australian extracted the following from him: ‘‘The Australian has always been good, the Editor in Chief has been doing an excellent job… I have great respect for Lachlan Murdoch.”

But this was all too late to avoid the smackdown. The Australian had a leak, presumably from someone near the Murdoch family, that one of Cowley’s business ventures had gone bad. News Corp refused Cowley’s request for help. The News Corp modus operandi was clearly on display. Take us on at your peril.

Rod Tiffen’s book Rupert Murdoch, a reassessment, published by UNSW Press Ltd, tells us a great deal about how News Corp operates. His account is consistent with my own experience.

Tiffen’s central conclusion is that News Corp is a rogue organisation.

‘These outrages [the hacking scandals] were not the product of a few rogue individuals as much as of a rogue corporation. Of course, the great majority of News Corp’s 50,000-plus employees, and the overwhelming majority of its journalists, are as repelled as the rest of the population by the abuses that have been revealed.

“However, the scandals were the product of a corporation where power is, perhaps uniquely, concentrated and where a confirming hierarchical culture makes it difficult for instructions to be questioned or challenged. This is a corporation impatient with any ethical impediments to achieving the results it wants and which greets external criticism with blanket denial and often aggression’.

It is not a matter of a few rotten apples. The malady is deep seated.

Tiffen describes the governance of News Corp as “a docile board, acquiescent management in the thrall of the genius of their CEO, a vision of hereditary succession and a ‘whatever it takes’ ethic”. Only a company with that sort of governance could pay $A89 million in remuneration in fiscal year 2017 to Rupert, Lachlan and James Murdoch from 20th Century Fox alone.

When confronted with even mild criticism News Corp’s retainers go into immediate attack mode and turn the issue into us against them. “Them” being a politically correct elite.

In 1992, UK prime minister John Major had just won an election. He asked the editor of the London Sun how he proposed to cover Britain’s decision on the European Exchange Rate Mechanism. He was told, “Well John let me put it this way, I’ve got a bucket of shit on my desk and tomorrow morning I am going to throw it all over your head.” The ALP gets the same bucket treatment in Australian elections while News Corp slavishly protects the Coalition and big business at almost every turn.

Ed Milliband, the leader of the British Labour Party, was foolish enough to say that Rebecca Brooks, who was charged before UK courts, “should examine her conscience”. The Sun political editor responded: ‘We take it personally and we are going to make it personal to you. We won’t forget.’ (p.309)

Tom Watson a British MP who relentlessly and courageously tracked News Corp, tells of “threats, bullying, covert surveillance, hacking, aggressive reporting and personal abuse” at the hands of News Corp. (p.288)

Appalled by News Corp’s methods of operations, the UK Parliamentary Committee by majority vote (Labour and Liberal Democrat) found that ‘Rupert Murdoch was not a fit person to exercise stewardship of a major international company.’ (p.265) Perhaps the Conservatives were too frightened to say what they really thought.

On page 327, Tiffen says perhaps too politely that ‘Murdoch’s power has more often diminished, rather than benefitted, the quality of democratic life’. It has been most obvious in the massive telephone hacking scandal in the UK.

The New York Times identified Rupert Murdoch as someone Donald Trump speaks to ‘on the phone every week’ although the White House denies this. At the ceremony in New York to remember the Battle of the Coral Sea, Donald Trump said: “Thank you my very good friend Rupert Murdoch.” There is only one Rupert we know.’

He is the largest employer of journalists in the English-speaking democracies. News Ltd holds 70% of the circulations of metropolitan dailies in Australia. In Brisbane and Adelaide, there is little alternative to News Corp publications. Not content with its stranglehold on metropolitan media, News Corp wants to cripple the ABC.

Famous US journalist Carl Bernstein speaks of “Murdoch’s destructive march across the democratic landscape.” (p.327)

Matthew Freud, Murdoch’s son-in-law told the New York Times: “I am by no means alone within the family or the company being ashamed by Roger Ailes’ (the CEO of Fox News) horrendous and sustained disregard of the journalistic standards that News, its founder and every other global media business aspires to.” (p.252) Yet Murdoch could say with a straight face: “People love Fox News.” (p.253)

The slogan of Fox News used to be ‘fair and balanced’. But perhaps after the ridicule that followed and the demise of Roger Ailes and Bill O’Reilly, the slogan was changed to ‘most-watched and trusted’. But even that is not true. MSNBC regularly out-rates it and Fact Checks make it the most negatively rated.

But there is some consolation in this for News Corp and Fox News. The new bill in the Australian Parliament to buy the support of Pauline Hanson in her vendetta against the ABC is titled ‘Australian Broadcasting Commission Amendment (Fair and Balanced) Bill 2017.

News Corp lives by a code of never admitting a mistake. It was the shrillest of all the urgers supporting the invasion of Iraq. The London Sun said of Saddam Hussein’s WMD ‘He’s got them. We know he’s got them’. Many newspapers such as the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Economist have confessed that they got it badly wrong on Iraq. I have yet to hear of a News Corp outlet that has made a similar confession despite almost a million deaths in Iraq and neighbouring countries and untold destruction and chaos. Critics of News Corp were described as ‘weasels’. Germany and France who opposed the invasion were an ‘axis of weasels’. The Australian referred to opponents of the invasion as the’ coalition of the whining’.

Just it was grievously wrong on Iraq and Middle East New Corp now continually tells us we are all wrong on global warming despite the overwhelming scientific evidence. Murdoch dismisses renewable energy as ‘windmills and all that nonsense’. Like Joe Hockey, he decries the renewable energy projects that are ruining the English countryside with ‘uneconomic bird-killing windmills’. With a President like that, cranks on climate change can be sure of a sympathetic run in the News Corp media.

Murdoch told us in 2014 that the ‘NBN was a ridiculous idea. It still is.’

On page 314 of his book, Tiffen recounts that. ‘Bruce Guthrie, Associate Editor of the Melbourne Herald, asked Murdoch at a “Confab” at Aspen, Colorado, in June 1988 “Do you have an ethical framework at all at the London Sun”.’ Tiffen records that Murdoch turned ‘red with anger’, and said to Cowley,’ I see we have a Fairfax wanker in our midst’ It was not a good career move for Guthrie.

Murdoch boastfully and recklessly told Thomas Kiernan in “Citizen Murdoch” ‘You tell these bloody politicians whatever they want to hear and once the deal is done you don’t worry about it” (Tiffen p 185). News Corp trifles with the truth. Murdoch told the Leveson Enquiry ‘I have never asked a PM for anything’. Only the most naïve and partisan would believe that. I know he asked Prime Minister Whitlam to be appointed Australian High Commissioner in London. I know because I was the intermediary. It’s true but Murdoch denies it

There is no doubt that Murdoch does inspire the loyalty of staff. They are usually well paid and provided they remain loyal, they will prosper. We see that time and time again. However, many people with the ability or a point of view don’t stay for long – either by their own choice or through dismissal. Andrew Neil, the Editor of the Sunday Times commented that ‘During the eleven years I was editor Rupert fired or eased out every Chief Executive of real talent or independent mindset …. [Murdoch] has never expressed regret about those he has axed and has repeatedly said that every individual can be replaced’ Tiffen p.298.

Loyalty counts for more than competence.

In China, Murdoch failed to make commercial progress. One reason was that he was impatient, but the more important reason is quite simply that he could not brow-beat the political leadership in China in the way he has been able to brow-beat almost all political leaders in Australia, the UK and the US.

Rod Tiffen explains very persuasively how and why News Corp is a rogue organisation that is doing untold damage to the fabric of public life. It will take us a long time to repair the awful damage.

Yet in his early days, Murdoch offered so much promise and hope. After the entrenched conservatism and parochialism of the state-based media, The Australian was like a breath of fresh air. But the air has now gone rank and putrid. What a tragedy Murdoch’s career has been for himself and the media.

‘Power doesn’t always corrupt. What power always does is reveal. When a guy gets into a position where he doesn’t have to worry anymore then you see what he wanted to do all along’ Robert Caro

I have used the name News Corp to refer to all Murdoch’s operations in Australia, UK and USA. I was General Manager of News Ltd. Sydney 1967-74. John Menadue

See also:

QUENTIN DEMPSTER. COUNTERING RUPERT MURDOCH’S PLAN TO DESTROY PUBLIC BROADCASTING IN AUSTRALIA.ROBERT MANNE. MURDOCH’S WAR.RODNEY TIFFEN. MURDOCH – THE TABLOID TWEETER TANGLES THE TRUTH.JOHN MENADUE TALKS TO JON FAINE ABOUT RUPERT MURDOCH, THE GREAT RENT-SEEKER (REPOST)

 

https://johnmenadue.com/news-corp-how-a-rogue-organisation-operates/

 

 

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GUSNOTE: THE SOROS MEDIA EMPIRE IS LESS OVIOUS BUT SOMEHOW FAR MORE DECEITFUL...

 

The perils of writing about Fox Corp CEO Lachlan Murdoch, successor to Rupert Murdoch's global media empire

 

BY Paddy Manning

 

Lachlan Murdoch has felt under attack his whole life. Even before he was born, two men tried to kidnap his mother, Anna, in London. They took the wrong woman by mistake and her murder cast a pall over the Murdoch family's few years in Britain in the early 70s.

When he was barely five, and the family had relocated to America, Time Magazine depicted his father Rupert as King Kong atop the World Trade Centre, taking New York media by storm.

"There was a little biplane trying to shoot him down," he recalled in a 2001 interview. "That was the first, probably the first memory that I have that, you know, the other dads at school weren't on the cover of Time magazine portrayed as this monster."

As a result, Lachlan Murdoch — like the rest of his family — has built up some serious defences. If not a bunker mentality, there are at least some very thick walls around the man who, since Rupert retired last September, has emerged as one of the most powerful Australians in the world.

In a landmark series for Australian Story, we have tried to solve the mystery of who Lachlan Murdoch is. How will he be different to his father, perhaps the most influential Australian yet born, and how is he the same?

According to Mike Biard, an executive at Fox Corporation for two decades, Lachlan Murdoch has grown up with criticism and deals with it by ignoring it: "He sticks to his guns. Whatever he thinks is the right decision, he's going to stick to it."

A self-described introvert, Lachlan Murdoch is content – in fact, determined – to keep himself hidden, and rarely, if ever, shares his personal or political views with the public or even his own employees.

That posed a challenge for me as a journalist, embarking on the first unauthorised biography of Lachlan Murdoch, The Successor, almost four years ago. It took two years to write and publish, and he refused to be interviewed. I couldn't work out why. 

The heir to one of the most powerful media empires the world has seen had little to fear from a book that would sell thousands of copies at best. As I often said at the time, I've got the popgun; he's got the howitzer.

Lachlan Murdoch is intensely private, deeply protective of his family, and resentful of media intrusion into his personal life. His inner circle says that rather than being fearful of scrutiny, he simply prefers not to put his views out there in case they are parroted around his media empire, inhibiting the diversity of opinion.

My take? Lachlan Murdoch has hardened with age.

Two decades ago, he was happy to do a long sit-down interview and would talk openly about his family history. Nowadays, he is less patient with the journalistic fray, resentful of media scrutiny, and defensive about the empire he now runs.

I was certainly on notice that Lachlan would be ready to retaliate if he thought I got anything wrong in the book. I already knew that, unlike his father, Lachlan was not averse to suing journalists. Eyebrows were raised at the end of 2021 when eminent defamation barrister Sue Chrysanthou turned up at the annual Christmas party Lachlan and his wife Sarah host at their Bellevue Hill compound — one of the hottest tickets on Sydney's social calendar.

An item quickly appeared in the Nine newspapers' gossip column, speculating that she had been retained to deal with my biography. (As it turned out, Chrysanthou would soon have her work cut out for her in another defamation case, which Lachlan later brought unsuccessfully against news website Crikey.)

I rang Lachlan's representatives, asking, "Do I need to sell my house?" They assured me Chrysanthou's retention had nothing to do with the book, but I remained nervous.

What is Lachlan's legacy?

Lachlan Murdoch is the 800-pound gorilla of the Australian media, and now a significant player on the world stage, recently meeting British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. 

And his influence is undoubtedly felt in America, where his right-leaning Fox News remains the dominant cable channel. President Joe Biden once described Rupert Murdoch as the "most dangerous man on earth" and some Democrats believe Lachlan Murdoch is even more dangerous.

But it's in Australia, one of the most concentrated media markets in the world, that the Murdochs' influence is felt most acutely. Rupert, it seems, no longer comes here: he missed the funeral for his sister Anne in 2022 and this year twice cancelled planned visits to celebrate the 60th anniversary of The Australian – the only remaining masthead he created from scratch.

At the age of 93, the naturalised American has lost touch with the country of his birth, even though he is still well enough to marry for a fifth time and was recently spotted in Milwaukee at the Republican National Convention.

The head of the Murdoch family business here is Lachlan, born in England, raised in America, but for whom Australia is definitely home. And he still strikes fear into the hearts of political and business leaders, even as the power of legacy media businesses worldwide fades as digital platforms such as Facebook and Google hoover up revenue.

News Corporation in Australia is under enormous pressure, and Lachlan Murdoch is the last man standing, staring over the precipice as the empire founded by his father and grandfather a century ago teeters. Rupert Murdoch famously had the ability to "see around corners" in media and technology. What does Lachlan see?

Notwithstanding Lachlan Murdoch's refusal to take part in our series, we have embarked on a mission of understanding, reaching out to friends, colleagues past and present, and media commentators in Australia and around the world.

Because Lachlan Murdoch is so powerful, and is said to have a talent for vengeance, it is hard to find people who are willing to go on camera to talk about him. He dictated that no serving director or employee of Fox or News Corporation should participate in our series, although behind the scenes certain friends and business associates including former footballer Ian Roberts, James Packer, racing and Rugby League boss Peter V'Landys and family friend Mark Burrows were encouraged to talk to the ABC. 

For Lachlan Murdoch's critics, there is a level of fear that, given his willingness to sue, is unsurprising.

There is too much hate and polarisation in the media – here and in America – just as there is too much polarisation in our political debates. Blame social media. Blame cable television. Even blame the Murdochs, if you like. As I see it, the job of journalists is not to apportion blame but to report the truth as they find it.

 

Through dozens of interviews with those who've known him and observed him over the decades, I've tried to understand how Lachlan's family history has shaped his outlook, what drives him, what he believes in and how he sees the media's role at a point in history where democracy is under threat.

It's an ongoing quest. I've written Lachlan's biography, hosted the podcast series Rupert: The Last Mogul, and now made three episodes for Australian Story. I'm also working on a PhD thesis, A Century of News Corp in Australia, researching company archives and doing oral history interviews.

All these projects dig into the same over-arching questions. What comes after Rupert? What is Rupert's legacy? And what will his retirement and eventual death mean for what remains of his media empire? For Australia? For America? For democracy? For the planet? Who is Lachlan and, having finally taken over from his father, what will he do?

This is a subject that deserves to be taken seriously. There are plenty of haters and ranters online, but few are taking the time to think, dig, ask the hard questions, and trying to keep up as the media industry collapses and dissolves, transforms, develops and rebuilds in real-time before our eyes.

Making Lachlan Murdoch is our attempt to get to the best obtainable version of the truth about this powerful but enigmatic figure.

Lachlan Murdoch and members of the Murdoch family did not accept our requests for an interview.

Australian Story's three-part series Making Lachlan Murdoch starts tonight at 8  on ABC TV and ABC iview.

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-09-09/the-perils-of-writing-about-media-mogul-lachlan-murdoch/104036726

 

 

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YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.