Chris Mitchell admits The Australian has not been profitable since 2008
The Australian has struggled to be profitable since the global financial crisis of 2008 its editor-in-chief Chris Mitchell has conceded in a video interview, on the newspaper’s website this morning.
In the interview with newly installed Media editor Sharri Markson Mitchell took the ABC’s Media Watch host Paul Barry to task for last week declaring The Australian was losing between $40m to $50m a year, and said he plans to report the ABC to the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).
“It’s probably not a profitable business on The Australian,” said Mitchell, in response to a statement by Markson that print was still a “profitable business”. “As people have noticed we’ve had a hard time since the GFC but the idea that we are losing $50m is incorrect.”
“(It’s) completely incorrect and we’ve never gone even close to that,” he said.
Pull the other leg Mitchell it yodels,perplexed by NEWS LTD journalism, what journalism printing Liberal party propaganda is not hard. You gave up serious journalism when Murdoch gave you instructions to destroy the Labour Govt.
I wonder how he kept a straight face sprouting all that BS
Is Mitchell confused by his own spin? He says on one hand that News profit would fall if the oz was taken out. Now he says they lose money.
The real clue, as Mitchell confirmed in 2012, is in the recharges and allocations of print, distribution and overhead costs that are capable of subjective estimation. Given Mitchell’s status with Murdoch, it seems unlikely that he suffers injustice on that front.
Fact is News has never made any attempt to disguise the fact that the Oz has been a big black hole. Mitchell now confirms that the digital subs he crows about are worth nothing much. He is also clearly praying for Fairfax to get out of print so he can suck up the remaining display dollars.
Paul Barry would know all about a concerted effort to paint media rivals…
A whole lot of people are “perplexed” by your journalism, Chris. if you’re going so bad financially – at least you admit that now – most of us can’t understand while you immediately alienate half your potential readership with your endlessly biased right wing lecturing. There are only so many Alan Jones retiree acolytes out there who you can count on to spend their pensions on yours and Rupert’s view of how the world should be run.
The Australian always loses money – it’s not a business, it’s a political pamphlet.
The Australian making a complaint to ACMA about inaccuracy would represent the final death of irony surely.
The Australian’s bias makes it unreadable. How can you trust news when everything is spun for Murdoch’s favorite government.
And has anyone noticed how many cafes only have The Telegraph and The Australian for customers to read. I smell rat. Wake up Fairfax.
The Editor of the Australian lied about its profitability and continues to mislead.
Is it any wonder that the print media, and News Ltd particularly is now untrusted and unread.
Truth in newspapers is dead.
Peter Rush, I think it is because News Limited has a good deal on delivering its ‘newspapers’ to businesses such as cafes, while Fairfax does not. My cafe refuses to run News Limited papers.
Ho, ho, ho Chris, and News Ltd is NOT working in an “orchestrated and deliberate fashion” to destroy large elements of the ABC — IE, in order to re-siphon massive (publicly-funded) golden rivers, Rupert’s way?!
Shall we just begin with the ABC News & Current Affairs television and radio feeds into Asia? … And where shall it all end?? Doesn’t bear thinking about.
Let’s put this universally despised “Fox & his flunkies”, on the run!
The update is wonderful. Shades of Chris Skase. They should make Mitchell scorekeeper for oz cricket and reallocate the SA runs on a more equitable basis!
I am laughing myself hoarse here. Truly. This is magic.
I used to love the Australian, particularly the Weekend edition, which I believed to be the best newspaper in the country, particularly for writers such as Nicholas Rothwell, George Megalogenis et al. But once it became ‘the boy who cried wolf”, with its totally biased approach to politics,I cancelled my subscription. I believe that most readers of the Oz would also be ABC and SBS followers, who would be pretty disgusted at the hysterical attacks by the Australian. A close family member had a very senior position at News Ltd, and I know that the Dominion newspaper in New Zealand was the only News publication that had the courage to resist Rupert’s demand to support the invasion of Iraq. How ironic that he would no longer be so keen to support Tony Blair!
Someone PLEASE tie Sharri Markson’s hands to the table. She’s going to poke someone’s eyes out with those things! Looks like she’s conducting an orchestra.
Then again, that’s probably not far off the role she’s in now – trying to get really, really old instruments to play beautiful music. Good luck…
Peter Rush, change your cafe or buy your own copy of the new improved now even smaller Herald and watch the circ figures double.