Don’t torch journalism
Update, July 31: Journalists at Nine Publishing have voted to accept an improved offer from management and have suspended any further industrial action. Read more >>
It is galling to journalists at the Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Australian Financial Review, Brisbane Times, and Watoday that while Nine Entertainment’s managing director Mike Sneesby has been enjoying the Olympic torch relay in sunny France, back home in the Australian winter, they have been trying to secure a fair enterprise agreement.
They are taking a stand for newsrooms that reflect the diversity of the communities they are reporting for, for ethical and transparent use of Artificial Intelligence, for a fair deal for freelance contributors, and for better wages.
Management has shown time after time that they care more about shareholder profits than about the people they employ.
Journalists, as workers on the frontline, are asking for wages to be kept up with the cost-of-living pressures after they volunteered to forego a mandated payrise during the COVID pandemic. Journalists have told stories to management about why a fair pay rise would make a difference to their lives. Management has responded with a sub-standard pay offer of 3.5%. Is this how low a regard management has for quality journalism?
Update, July 31: Journalists at Nine Publishing have voted to accept an improved offer from management and have suspended any further industrial action. Read more >>
In the midst of enterprise bargaining, management has made an unprecedented announcement of a major redundancy round which disproportionately targets the most unionised arm of Nine Entertainment Company, its publishing division. With 70-90 jobs proposed to be axed at Nine Publishing, these cuts will have a detrimental impact on the newsrooms.
It doesn’t stop there. Journalists’ working conditions are intrinsically linked to their ability to perform their role of holding power to account. Attacks on journalists is an attack on the public’s right to know the truth.
Journalists are taking industrial action to fight for legally binding consultation on the impact of Artificial Intelligence. This is integral to countering the dissemination of misinformation through AI.
And journalists are calling for management to continually report on diversity audits and pay gap data in their workplace. This will allow staff to hold management accountable to work towards equitable wages.
As members of the public, we must support workers taking action for better pay and conditions, but also in the face of the rapidly changing landscape for our right to factual journalism.
