March 1, 2016
The union that represents Australian journalists has condemned APN News & Media for its decision to sell its Australian Regional Media arm.
The Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance (MEAA) said APN had abandoned regional media and the communities it serves.
The announcement followed APN reporting a 7 per cent slide in profit.
The regional media division consists of 12 daily newspapers, 60 community and non-weekly publications – including the South Burnett Times and the Central & North Burnett Times – and 30 regional news web sites.
The MEAA said APN management had slashed $40 million in costs from the regional media division over the past three years, resulting in the loss of jobs and a marked increase in work intensification for the staff that remained.
The union said APN had also starved the business of resources and had frustrated attempts to renew enterprise bargaining agreements.
“The APN publications that serve the people of regional Queensland and NSW are a vital source of local news and information,” MEAA CEO Paul Murphy said .
“They have historic and crucial links to their communities, are an avenue for local stories to be told and local voices to be heard.
“They provide an essential public service. But over several years, APN management has slashed away at these mastheads, diluting them of quality local content and starving them of the crucial resources needed to do their job.
“When your only strategy is to cut and cut, something has to give. In the end, it is the local communities that suffer.”
MEAA is seeking an urgent meeting with APN management to ensure that any sale process is accompanied by a guarantee that employee service and all entitlements were acknowledged and transferred under the Fair Work Act.
