Sydney Morning Herald

Reports out of the Fairfax buildings this morning were of stunned newsrooms, shocked into silence as Greg Hywood announced 1900 jobs to go, the broadsheets shrunk to compact size, printing presses closing, and an acceleration of the shift to a focus on digital.

Some historical documents from 2012.

The Fairfax statement to the Stock Exchange made it very clear the company is hanging its future on its news websites, which will start charging for some content.

Many people took to social media to decry the company charging for access to its sites, conveniently ignoring that someone has to pay the salaries. The share market reacted somewhat differently to the staff and readers, with Fairfax shares immediately jumping 4 per cent. Clearly investors are not nostalgic about the smell of newsprint.

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  • MB24 says:

    10:34pm | 20/06/12

    In the UK, the Independent has its secondary ‘i’ paper. It sells for 20p, and is aimed at the commuter market. London has 2 x free, very small daily papers handed out at tube stations - one in the morning, other in the evening. They’re about 20% news - and… Read more »

  • Amy R says:

    07:44pm | 20/06/12

    That’s the “short answer”? lol Read more »

 

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