Today, staff at the Nine papers, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, will gather in their respective newsrooms to bid farewell to more than thirty journalists, editors, subeditors, photographers and cartoonists, leaving as part of yet another round of redundancies.
Together with the cuts made at the end of 2024, it means that collectively the Nine papers have shed 120 journalists in less than two years. It’s a significant number considering the publishing division now employs fewer than 500 people.
Those leaving chose to do so, as the company’s enterprise bargaining agreement forces management to offer voluntary redundancies before making forced cuts. This particular exodus will see decades and decades of combined experience walk out the door, and marks a significant rupture between staff who came up under the old, more progressive Fairfax culture of the papers and those who came to the newsroom during the newer, right-wing sensibility fostered by Nine, which has recruited an increasing number of ex-News Corp reporters and editors.
Some of those leaving include long-term cartoonists Simon Letch and Cathy Wilcox. Wilcox had recently come under ferocious attack from the News Corp media for her work skewering the Israel lobby. The ranks of cartoonists at the outlets is now so thin, the regular wrap-ups of the best cartoons now feature composite photographs of NRL players.
Melbourne’s newsroom is also losing Tony Wright, a fixture in Australian journalism for nearly 60 years. Wright is one of the most well-known political writers in the country. His departure was even acknowledged by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Parliament, who paid tribute to his career.
Also leaving from The Age is long time editor Maher Mughrabi, who was previously foreign editor at both mastheads. Mughrabi was one of the newsroom's most respected and experienced journalists, regarded for his intellect, deep-knowledge and support of younger staff. A Palestinian-Australian, he became a global sensation after an appearance on Q&A during Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
In Sydney, the details of who’s leaving weren’t shared by email or an all-staff meeting, but by the placement of farewell cards staff were told to sign on Tuesday. In fact, it turns out some staff who had applied for a redundancy didn’t find out if they were staying or going until they saw the names on those cards.
Now that’s a way to treat journalists who’ve given you decades of their working lives!
