Fairfax Media’s restructure of its publishing operations in Goulburn, Bowral, Queanbeyan, Yass, Crookwell and Braidwood will result in fewer job losses than originally proposed, the company has told staff.
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Fairfax’s regional, rural and suburban publishing business Australian Community Media (ACM) announced plans in March to revitalise its newspapers and websites in the region with new digital-first publishing technology and new equipment and training for journalists and sales staff.
Employees were briefed on Thursday on the new local operating structure after a period of consultation with staff and the community.
Publications involved include The Goulburn Post, Goulburn Post Weekly, Queanbeyan Age, Yass Tribune, The Chronicle, Cooma/Monaro Express, Jindabyne Summit Sun, Southern Highland News, Highlands Post, Southern Highlands Property Press, Crookwell Gazette and Braidwood Times, Snowy Times and Town & Country Magazine.
Publishing changes confirmed on Thursday include closing the Cooma-Monaro Express and the Summit Sun at Jindabyne, and merging the Queanbeyan Age and the Queanbeyan edition of The Chronicle into a new-look free weekly newspaper and website serving Queanbeyan.
As a result of feedback, extra journalist resources in Goulburn, Yass and Bowral have been added to the staffing originally proposed.
The company expects voluntary redundancies of about nine full-time equivalent positions from across the company’s ACT and NSW Southern Inland operating group, three less than originally proposed.
Led by group business manager Corinne Whiteman, group managing editor John-Paul Moloney and group sales manager Maree Neale, the restructured editorial and sales teams will deliver new-look newspapers, more digital content and enhanced advertising solutions.
Ms Whiteman said constructive input from staff had helped fine-tune the changes.
“In editorial, we have bolstered our staffing for the Goulburn Post, Yass Tribune and Southern Highland News so these trusted mastheads continue to deliver journalism online and in print,” Ms Whiteman said.
Alternatives to closing the Cooma and Jindabyne publications suggested by staff and the community had been assessed.
“The Express, in particular, has a proud heritage in the region and the community of Cooma has expressed strong feelings about its role,” Ms Whiteman said.
“We know how important local papers are in local communities and any decision to close a publication is not taken lightly.”
The final editions of the papers were expected to published on May 5.
“We will be working with our staff on farewell editions that celebrate the rich histories of these mastheads,” Ms Whiteman said.
The free Snowy Times magazine would continue to provide seasonal information on tourism and events for the Snowy Mountains and surrounding areas, as well as advertising opportunities for local businesses.
Other changes confirmed for the operating group on Thursday include moving The Canberra Times to a redesigned compact format seven days a week in the second half of 2016, extending the content and distribution of the Braidwood Times to serve the growing community of Bungendore and closing the existing Queanbeyan Age office and producing the new-look Queanbeyan paper from nearby Fyshwick.
Mr Moloney said Queanbeyan news would continue to be covered in print and online.
“We have had productive conversations with the community, including with Queanbeyan City Council,” Mr Moloney said.
“We will continue to cover the important news of the city, including council, courts and sport, making use of our new digital publishing technology to keep the Queanbeyan community connected.”
Director of ACM John Angilley thanked employees and the community for their feedback.
“It is heartening to see that our communities care as much as we do about our local journalism and our trusted mastheads," Mr Angilley said.
"With the continued support of our audiences and advertisers, our newspapers and websites will remain vibrant local voices.”
Staff were briefed on the voluntary redundancy program, new roles created in the restructure and the implementation schedule for new technology and training.
“Our staff will adopt new technology and new ways of working to improve how they provide news and information to their communities, with our journalists and photographers continuing to do what they do best - telling local stories," Mr Angilley said.
“This is a substantial upgrading for our newsrooms with new systems, digital-first publishing and quality-checking processes plus a vastly better local sales approach.”
The restructure of the ACT and Southern Inland operations follows the introduction of new publishing technology and new ways of working at more than 100 ACM mastheads in every Australian state and territory.