Nine Network Faces Potential Strike During Paris Olympics Coverage

Senior Nine sports journo's major claim on fallout of strike on Olympics coverage

A senior sports journalist at the Sydney Morning Herald has predicted the strike action of Nine print journalists could have an enormous impact on coverage of the 2024 Paris Olympics. Staff at Nine's metro mastheads, including The Age, the Sydney Morning Herald, Australian Financial Review, WAtoday and Brisbane Times voted overwhelmingly this week to strike over a pay dispute. The action includes several reporters who were flown to Paris to cover the much-anticipated event which Nine secured exclusive rights to over a year ago. The strike will not affect the network's television coverage of the Games. Sky News Senior Reporter Kenny Heatley was at a demonstration in Sydney on Friday where some attendees could be seen holding signs with the slogan "don't torch journalism". Others were spotted wearing white t-shirts emblazoned with the same message alongside a caricature of Nine CEO Mike Sneesby holding the Olympic torch in Paris. Images of the chief executive carrying the torch in the relay before the Games this week were widely circulated and are said to have only increased frustration of the company's employees. When pressed on what sort of impact the industrial action would have on the print coverage of the Olympics, chief Cricket writer at the Sydney Morning Herald Malcolm Conn dropped a bombshell. "Well, we've got very talented journalists in Paris, and none of them are going to be filing over the next five days," he said. "So all the colour and excitement that they would have brought to us is not going to be there. "It's going to be a very bland, straightforward coverage, from various wire services. So disappointing for them and disappointing for our readers." Mr Conn described the negotiation process as "long and drawn out". "The negotiations have been going on for some time, not only on pay, but also on issues like how AI is going to influence journalists' jobs and also about diversity across the newsroom, about how freelancers are being treated," he told Sky News Australia. "But I think one of the things that we're most disappointed about is that during COVID, when everyone was doing it tough, we decided not to take a pay rise. And the company sort of made it fairly clear that that would be remembered. "Well, we've now had a spike in inflation, and the offer we have been given is little more than half inflation after taking nothing of the previous deal." According to news.com.au, staff were offered a 3.5 per cent annual pay rise in an email sent on Wednesday, compared to the two per cent which was already in place. Mr Sneesby, who is currently in Paris for the Olympics, addressed Nine staff in an email in response to the industrial action, saying he was "profoundly disappointed". "It goes without saying we're profoundly disappointed by this decision as we have offered a new and improved agreement yesterday and were negotiating in good faith to a constructive outcome," Mr Sneesby wrote. He acknowledged the right of unions to take industrial action but reiterated he felt a return to the negotiating table was the best way forward. "While we have endeavoured to avert the industrial action, we have been preparing for the prospect of prolonged industrial action," he said. "We are well positioned to ensure our mastheads are produced and distributed for our loyal readers." When asked if the email alleviated any of the reported anger and frustration being felt by the company's journalists, Mr Conn provided a blunt response. "No, it doesn't, and I don't know what they've done to try and avert industrial action because, from the point of view of a journalist, they haven't taken this seriously at all," he said. "There's been no suggestion from management about anyone not taking bonuses, about cutting back on basically junkets to Paris. There's a lot of people over there in Paris at the moment who don't have any real direct association with Nine and the Nine newspapers. "So, we think it's been very disappointing that they've really haven't done anything concrete." It comes after Mr Sneesby announced more than 200 job cuts, mostly from the newspaper and broadcast divisions, amid plunging advertising revenue.

Nine boss Mike Sneesby 'disappointed' over staff strike during Olympics coverage

Nine CEO Mike Sneesby has spoken of his disappointment in an email to staff after majority of their publishing journalists agreed to take a five-day strike on the eve of the Olympics. The strike action began at 11am on Friday, less than 24 hours before the 2024 Paris Olympic Games opening ceremony, after staff voted for the strike to take place amid ongoing pay disputes. Journalists across Nine newspapers The Age, Sydney Morning Herald, Brisbane Times, WAtoday, Australian Financial Review as well as 20 reporters currently in Paris to cover the Games are taking part and not filing stories. A walkout occurred outside the SMH office when the strike commenced, with staff wearing shirts and holding signs that read: "Don't torch journalism". Mr Sneesby, who is currently in Paris for the Olympics, addressed Nine staff in an email in response to the industrial action, saying he was "profoundly disappointed". "Despite our best efforts, we have been unable resolve the impasse over a new Enterprise Bargaining Agreement and MEAA members have determined to take protected industrial action over the next five days," Mr Sneesby's email read. "It goes without saying we're profoundly disappointed by this decision as we have offered a new and improved agreement yesterday and were negotiating in good faith to a constructive outcome. "While we recognise the right of unions to take industrial action, Tory and I firmly believe a return to the negotiating table is the best pathway to progressing the EBA." The Nine boss also lamented the timing of the strike as it comes after the company "invested significantly" to provide exclusive Olympics coverage. "Regrettably, the union action comes on the eve of one of the biggest news events on the planet, the Paris Olympics," he said. "We have invested significantly to bring unrivalled coverage of the 2024 Games to our valued audiences through Nine's world-leading journalism." Mr Sneesby said he and managing director Tory Maguire remained "confident" Nine would still deliver top-class coverage of the Games despite the strike. SMH senior sports writer Malcolm Conn said it was "disappointing" negotiations continued to drag on and said a number of issues in addition to pay disputes, were at play. "Negotiations have been going on for some time, not only on pay but on issues like how AI is going to influence journalists' jobs, and also about diversity across the newsroom, about how freelancers are being treated. I think 170 freelancers have been agreed not to file during this five-day period," he told Sky News senior reporter Kenny Heatley at the staff walkout on Friday. "It's been dragging on but one of the things we're most disappointed about is that during Covid when everyone was doing it tough, we decided not to take a pay rise and the company made it fairly clear that would be remembered. "We've now had a spike in inflation and the offer we've been given is little more than half inflation after taking nothing of the previous deal."

Nine journalists do their block over Scott Cam's Paris Olympics appearance as strike looms | Weekly Beast

The presence of the Nine TV personality Scott Cam in Paris to promote The Block was the final provocation for print journalists contemplating strike action on the eve of the Paris Olympic Games. "How many jobs at Nine publishing could have been saved if a TV personality with nothing to do with the Olympics was not going to bed right now in luxury hotels in Paris?" the Age reporter Broede Carmody told ABC Radio ahead of journalists striking for five days. There was always going to be a culture clash between Channel Nine and the print mastheads once owned by Fairfax. The Olympics has been the spark for the biggest fallout since Nine merged with Fairfax in 2018. Commercial TV networks have traditionally used the Olympics as a platform to promote upcoming shows and the 18th season of The Block, a major success for the network, is no exception. But for journalists facing the loss of 90 jobs the expenditure on TV stars in Paris seemed unreasonable. It didn't help that Nine's chief executive, Mike Sneesby, took part in the torch relay hours after the strike was announced. The anger in newsrooms at the Age, the Sydney Morning Herald, the Australian Financial Review, Brisbane Times and WAtoday has been described as "white hot" after several months of tense enterprise bargaining negotiations were interrupted by news of a substantial cut to editorial resources. Nothing that Nine's managing director of publishing, Tory Maguire, offered at tense crisis meetings in Melbourne and Sydney on Thursday was enough to call off the strike. An improved pay offer was rejected. "It's just not good enough," Carmody said. "We're struggling during this cost-of-living crisis, and we can't take a real wage cut. And at the same time as we were seeking greater protections so that AI couldn't take our jobs ... the company announced up to 90 jobs [cut] at our newsrooms. It's an awful, awful situation." Perhaps feeling the pain of the stop-work the most will be the 20-odd journalists, including the Age chief reporter, Chip Le Grand, and the AFR business reporter Zoe Samios, who travelled to Paris to cover the Olympic Games, described by Carmody as "the work trip of a lifetime". Unlike foreign correspondents, such as the Europe correspondent, Rob Harris, they are not exempt from strike action and will have to take part in the strike as much as it hurts. Sources say the SMH editor, Bevan Shields, got up at the staff meeting to urge staff not to make those over in Paris join in on the strike. One staffer said that was "emotional blackmail", which brought cheers from the crowd. Sneesby told staff on Friday morning he was "profoundly disappointed" by the decision to strike. "Regrettably, the union action comes on the eve of one of the biggest news events on the planet, the Paris Olympics. We have invested significantly to bring unrivalled coverage of the 2024 Games to our valued audiences through Nine's world-leading journalism," Sneesby said in a note to staff seen by Weekly Beast. Sneesby was adamant the strike would not affect the coverage and Nine would continue to "seamlessly deliver the best coverage for our audiences". More details emerged this week on where the cuts would fall: 10 to 15 staff on the Age and the Sydney Morning Herald would go; six to eight from the national team of federal politics, business, world and environmental journalists. When staff argued for a higher pay offer, Maguire reportedly said if the company went any higher they would have to cut even more staff. The mood is not much better at rival media company News Corp Australia, which celebrated the 60th anniversary of The Australian at the same time as the New York Times published a bombshell report that Rupert Murdoch is in a secret legal battle pitching the ageing mogul and his heir apparent, Lachlan Murdoch, against three of his other children. The story was taken so seriously by the Sky News Australia host Andrew Bolt that he threatened to quit if James Murdoch takes over News Corp. "James could sack me if he did take over, but he wouldn't need to. I wouldn't be the only one who wouldn't work for him," Bolt said. "It's a values thing. A freedom thing. I don't know if he gets that. "I haven't been asked to say this. I haven't even talked to Lachlan for a couple of years. I didn't ask for permission to say this." In the absence of Rupert Murdoch, the chosen son Lachlan hosted the gala dinner at the Australian Museum on Thursday night. Sitting at the top table with the media mogul was the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and Coalition leader, Peter Dutton. "For 60 years we have spoken fearlessly, and will continue to do so," Lachlan told the crowd. "For 60 years we have criticised and praised, and brought independent thinking and ideas to our readers and into our communities." In his speech he criticised social media platforms like Elon Musk's X as "very dangerous". "And this is why journalism, real journalism with real journalists, is so important," he said. "Journalists first and foremost report the news, accurately and without bias. We report the facts. We ask questions. We seek the truth." Albanese reportedly said Rupert Murdoch "willed into being a newspaper" in an "act of audacity, of ­ambition and of optimism that ­reflects the qualities and the story of our great nation". Among the 250 guests were the former prime ministers John Howard and Tony Abbott, New South Wales premier Chris Minns, ­the governor general, Samantha Mostyn, and Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price. Business leaders included the Fortescue Metals executive chair, ­Andrew Forrest, Premier Investments chair, Solomon Lew, Atlassian co-founder Scott Farquhar, Merivale boss Justin Hemmes and Myer executive chair, Olivia Wirth. The former ABC and Nine journalist Chris Uhlmann has been welcomed into the fold at the Oz and was one of "six prominent Australians" chosen to speak. "We need to reject shallow nationalism and redeem the idea of patriotism," Uhlmann said. With all eyes on the 60th anniversary and Lachlan in town, News Corp tried to keep a lid on the painful news about the rolling redundancies at the Murdoch empire in an effort to save $65m. Some of the most experienced News journalists were quietly culled and there were farewells held at the Shakespeare hotel in Surry Hills this week and many a farewell card signed. Decades of experience was let go when the much-admired veteran national health reporter, Sue Dunlevy, was made redundant, among dozens of others. Her departure will be a big loss to the reporting of health policy in this country. A straight shooter, Dunlevy has risen above politics and allowed her reporting to do the talking in a 36-year career at News Corp.