How private equity gutted my old tech media newsroom
From bustling newsroom to skeleton crew, IDG Communications’ decline under private equity shows how quickly a B2B media company can be hollowed out. Mumbrella chief reporter and former IDG employee Eleanor Dickinson explains why this should be a warning for other Australian media owners.
(Midjourney)
Whenever I tell people I used to work at ARN, I always have to clarify: not that ARN.
Nothing to do with Kyle and Jackie O — this was Australian Reseller News, a trade publication covering an under-the-radar but billion-dollar network of technology resellers and distributors.
Today, however, ARN and its owner, global publishing company Foundry, are shadows of their former selves. Like many publishers, the business has passed through multiple private equity hands, with each sale stripping away at this small yet vital corner of the Australian media industry.
