Sunday 17 February 2013

Regional media in trouble on the NSW North Coast?


Independent News and Media (INM) has an estimated 29.5% investment in APN News & Media Limited which owns many of the local newspapers operating on the NSW North Coast from Coffs Harbour up to the NSW-QLD border, including The Daily Examiner and The Northern Star.
 
It is no secret that Independent News and Media (which has its own financial woes) is unhappy with the continuing lacklustre performance of APN and its latest trading update.
 
So unhappy is this major shareholder that it was calling for the sacking of APN’s current CEO Brett Chenoweth.
 
If this move is successful it would make him the second chief executive officer to go in the past two years.
 
INM’s revolt appears to be the reason for the APN trading halt announced on 15 February 2013.
 
All this would be of nothing more than passing interest to Northern Rivers residents, if it were not for the persistent speculation that APN regional media assets may be broken up and some sold-off.

UPDATE:

THE Daily Examiner and Coastal Views have restructured to ensure both publications remain the voice of our region for the long-term future.

While we'll be closing our office in Yamba on February 28, our coverage of the Lower Clarence will remain unchanged as we move towards a more mobile workforce in keeping with industry changes worldwide.

We have also re-engineered our sales structure to match our clients' needs, both large and small. In doing so, some local positions have been impacted.

Our new structure will provide higher levels of customer service and reader value than ever before and we look forward to the next chapter of our papers' evolution in this digital age.

The Daily Examiner has been an integral part of the Clarence Valley since 1859 and will continue to be so for many, many years to come. [The Daily Examiner 22 February 2013]

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

THE chairman of APN News and Media Peter Hunt has announced his resignation along with that of CEO Brett Chenoweth and three independent directors.
APN has this a a news item February 18.

"The resignations of Mr Hunt, Mr Chenoweth, Melinda Conrad, John Harvey and John Maasland will take effect at 9am on Tuesday, February 19.
In addition, independent director Kevin Luscombe will retire in April 2013 as previously planned."

Anonymous said...

Word is 12 jobless with mass redundancies for The Daily Examiner and Yamba office has closed.