Talking Point

Fairfax rethinks AFR web strategy

Finally, the Fairfax chiefs might be seeing the light with reports in today's media that the Australian Financial Review's paid subscriber only policy for sections of its website might soon be confined to the waste paper bin.

According to The Australian:

FAIRFAX Media's main financial news website, afr.com, will be relaunched for the second time this year in "a matter of weeks" with more content likely to be made freely available after months of criticism.

It's unlikely everything on the site will be free however with Fairfax Business media chief Michael Gill telling The Age on Saturday that "news and simple stuff" would be available for free but the business model will remain subscription based.

Trevor Cook had a good post last week, describing the paper as a shell. The amount wire copy sourced from overseas sometimes makes up the majority of content in some sections. Experienced journalists like John Durie and Jennifer Hewett are now working for The Australian. As Trevor points out, much of the content can be sourced  from elsewhere as there's no shortage of business related media adorning our new stands airwaves and the Internet. The question, therefore, is why would people pay good money to get the content you can get somewhere else for free?

Fairfax flags narrower broadsheets

Fairfax is moving away from its traditional broadsheet format for the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. While the new papers will be larger than the tabloid format, the pages will be narrower. The changes will also trigger another round of job loses in the company's production area.

We will continue to consult with readers, editors, advertisers, agencies and other parties before we announce more specifics towards the end of this year," Fairfax CEO David Kirk said.

The announcement seems yet another move away from its traditional base and towards a digital future. A month ago Fairfax announced a deal with Video on Demand provider Anytime and Perth based telco iiNet to deliver a movie download service via the  Fairfax website.

Click here to read David Kirk's announcement.