Statement from the Nine Publishing national house committee

We stand with our colleagues at Nine Darwin, who have been blindsided by management’s decision to decimate the bureau and cut all but one reporter and one camera operator job.

Darwin viewers will now be left without a local 6pm Nine news bulletin, with viewers to get their nightly news from the Queensland newsroom.

Since 1971, Nine Darwin has been an integral part of the Northern Territory’s media landscape, covering everything from Cyclone Tracy on Christmas Day in 1974 to the Bali 5 release, and recent court trials that have shaped our nation, including that of NT police officer Zachary Rolfe.

Territorians cannot be properly served by a newsroom thousands of kilometres away.

We also stand with our colleagues in the Gold Coast newsroom, who have today also learned their newsroom is facing job losses.

These newsrooms have been places to foster young reporters who have gone on to become household names and have worked tirelessly to serve their audiences.

This decision fails to value the role regional media plays in bringing truth and power to Australian audiences and leaves a troubling reporting gap in a large part of our nation.

We call on Nine Broadcasting to rethink its position and stem any further cuts across its network.