MELBORNE – The end may be in sight for print editions of at least two Fairfax daily newspapers, the Melbourne Age and the Sydney Morning Herald.While Fairfax has so far made no announcement to that effect, observers yesterday were saying the writing, so to speak, is on the wall, after Age editor in chief Andrew Holden was apparently shown the door.
(Holden has not spoken to the media since his departure, but in an interview with the ABC’s Jon Faine, Fairfax Media publisher Sean Aylmer said he and Holden had “agreed together he would move on.”)
Holden has been replaced for the time being by former Sunday Age editor Mark Forbes – but ominously he bears the title “acting editor-in-chief”, suggesting his reign may be short. In another possible sign of the times, a new Fairfax structure sheet shows editors of both dailies will henceforth report to the head of digital channels.
Print sales – already weak – last year dropped a further 9.2 per cent at the SMH and nine percent at The Age.
Meanwhile growth of online subscribers seems to have stalled, according to a New Daily report. It says digital subscriptions at the SMH last year grew only 1.5 percent; at The Age they actually fell 1.5 percent.
