'Out and proud': Nine CEO backs journalistic independence at Fairfax
Nine Entertainment Co chief executive Hugh Marks has emphatically promised to support the independence of Fairfax Media’s reporting should the proposed merger between the two companies go ahead.
Speaking on a panel of senior television executives at a ThinkTV event on Tuesday evening, Mr Marks said he was an “out and proud yes” when it came to editors making editorial decisions independently under Nine management.
The journalists' union, the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance, recently called for Nine chairman Peter Costello and the broadcaster’s board to commit in writing to Fairfax’s almost 30-year-old charter of editorial independence. The charter stops media proprietors from interfering in editorial decisions.
“We are really reliant on great editors doing great work. Great work leads to great results,” Mr Marks said, in response to questioning about Nine's position on editorial independence.
“The one thing that makes television work is great content. Great content brings engagement, draws an audience reaction and an emotional response and that clearly works in television and it clearly applies in other mediums as well."
He pointed to distinctive content that resonates and engages audience as critical to the success of media businesses, saying this ensures there’s an advertising possibility.
“Great content brings results and that can apply as equally to print media in the new world, but obviously television,” he said.
Marks previously agreed to adopting the principles of the charter in a media briefing on Thursday.
He declined to say whether Nine was considering making a higher offer in response to calls from Fairfax shareholders for more money.
Under the terms of the deal, Fairfax shareholders will receive 0.3627 Nine shares and 2.5 cents in cash for each Fairfax share they hold. This implied a 22 per cent premium to Fairfax's share price the day before the deal was announced, or a price of 94¢.
Nine shares were flat on Tuesday closing at $2.24, while Fairfax Media shares also held steady at 81 cents.
Seven West Media chief executive Tim Worner declined to talk about the network’s response to its rival’s merger plans.
“We haven’t had any mates for years, so we can probably continue to get by with no mates,” Mr Worner said.
However, he does see a future where the free-to-air TV companies work closer together to create efficiencies.
“Our mantra is going to be compete on content, collaborate on technology,” he said.
We all ... have to produce so much children’s content, so much drama, so much Australian content, these guys have none of that
Ten's Paul Anderson
One thing the panel agreed on was the importance of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s inquiry into the digital platforms, mainly Facebook and Google, which are largely seen by media companies as common rivals for advertising revenue.
News Corp’s Foxtel chief executive Patrick Delany said the online giants were “quite clearly ... publishers”.
“They might publish lists, they might scrape things, they are publishing. They might be diverse into various things, but it’s all about advertising,” he said, noting this was significantly affecting news media.
Ten Network chief executive Paul Anderson said an independent verifiable measurement of metrics was important, and flagged concerns recent issues around data privacy online was having affects on how other businesses could use data.
“We all operate under a regulatory regime, which says we have to produce so much children’s content, so much drama, so much Australian content, these guys have none of that,” Mr Anderson said.
“There is not an even playing field at the moment."