» Staffers show interest in Indie ownership

Staffers show interest in Indie ownership

August 5th, 2009

Independent News and Media journalists are putting together a trust to bid for a stake in the local company. But they may end up bidding against their own bosses.

Even though local management is saying that the newspaper assets are not for sale, the uncertain future of the parent company in Ireland is leading to a push by many to secure a position.

Led by financial reporter Anne Crotty, there is a staff plan to create a trust to bid for 25% of the company. The trust would be appointed by staff, as I understand it, but they would not be beneficiaries. The trust would be set up for the promotion of journalism rather than for any individuals.

It is a wonderful idea, and may be very timely in that there may be a number of potential owners or bidders who see value in a local trust of this sort as a shareholder. It is a long shot, but at least it shows a real concern about senior staffers for the company, its journalism and its future – and is not just leaving it to outsiders.

There are precedents for trusts of this sort controlling or having an interest in some of the world’s great newspapers, such as the Guardian of London and Le Monde in Paris.

There is also talk that management, led by editor-in-chief Moegsien Williams, and deputy CEO Nazeem Howa, are also interested in pitching for the business. For them, it would be a case of seeking to secure their positions in a situation of some uncertainty.

All of this has been sparked by the fact that the international parent company is in deep trouble, unable to carry or pay off its huge debts. This has led to a battle for control, with current boss Tony O’Reilly fighting to keep his hold on the group he built. The South African assets are the best-performing of the whole group.

Entry Filed under: Anton Harber, Journalism, Print

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Anton Harber: Media

Professor Anton Harber directs the Journalism and Media Studies Programme at Wits University. He is former editor of the Mail & Guardian.
Full bio

Among the main results from the World Association of Newspaper’s Newsroom Barometer (a survey of 700 editors and senior news execs in 120 countries) for this year:
- 86% believe integrated print and online newsrooms will become the norm, and 83% believe journalists will be expected to be able to produce content for all media within five years.
- Two-thirds believe some editorial functions will be outsourced, despite frequent newsroom opposition to the practice.
- A plurality - 44% - believe on-line will be the most common platform for reading news in the future, compared with 41% last year. Thirty-one cited print (down from 35% last year), 12% mobile and 7% e-paper. The rest were unsure.
- A majority of editors - 56%- believe news in the future will be free, up from 48% from last year’s survey. Only one-third believe the news will remain paid for, while 11% were unsure. - From Editors’ Weblog

There is a crisis in trust and communication between the British public and the mainstream media, a new report has concluded. The gulf between public expectations of news provision and the actual nature of articles, which oscillate between esoteric or irresponsible, leaves readers feeling confused and excluded.
The report, entitled ‘Public Trust In The News’ was conducted by researchers from Manchester and Leeds Universities and was published by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. - From Editors Weblog

Reflections on Journalism in the Transition to Democracy - Ethics & International Affairs 18, no. 3 (2004).

Journalism in the Age of the Market
- Harold Wolpe Memorial Lecture, Centre for Civil Society, University of KZN, Aug 2002

The Untimely Death of SA’s Finest Daily - Sunday Times, May 2005

“Two Newspapers, Two Nations? The Media and the Xenophobic Violence” from Go Home or Die Here, edited by Shireen Hassim Tawana Kupe and Eric Worby (WUP, 2008)

Remarks at Goedgedacht Forum, October 2008

The rise of social network journalism - From The 2009 Flux Trend Review (Macmillan, 2008)

A recent piece by me on the Zapiro cartoon row which appeared in Comment is Free, a Guardian blog.

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