Two CEO reactions to Fairfax-NZME decision: one inspiring, one useless

It was tricky for Fairfax and NZME staff to produce a measured analysis of the merger decision yesterday, being entangled in the story themselves.

And I did grimace as I read a lot of their coverage. But I had to agree with a column by Fran O’Sullivan in the Herald: NZME chief executive Michael Boggs put on an inspiring performance yesterday.

He said there would be no staff cuts and outlined possible alternative paths now the merger has been sidelined, including paywalls for some content or buying parts of Fairfax.

Contrast that to Fairfax’s Australian-based chief executive, Greg Hywood, who signed off an email to staff yesterday with “Further publishing frequency changes and consolidation of titles is an inevitability”. Yes, probably. But what a way to rally the troops. Could he not think of a more upbeat note to end on?

Before Christmas, Mr Hywood uttered the sinister but vague line that it would “become the end game” if the merger was disallowed.

If that was an attempt to emotionally blackmail the Commerce Commission about layoffs, it didn’t work. And you can imagine the effect it had on morale.

You’ve also got to question his timing. Yesterday was the day that Fairfax laid off 125 staff at the Sydney Morning Herald, the Melbourne Age and the AFR, a cull of more than a quarter of the three titles’ combined newsroom. That sparked a walkout and a week-long strike.

And speaking of timing, it was absolutely unbelievable that the head of Fairfax’s NZ operation, Simon Tong, jumped ship for an ASB role last month. Where’s the passion for media? Nowhere with that bean counter. It would be like if Kieran Read walked off the field in the last quarter of a game where the All Blacks were behind, announcing he’d rather play volleyball instead.

If MediaWorks, Oaktree Capital or Horton Media does swoop in, at least the NZ operation would get new leadership.

NBR VIEW BACKSTORY: The StuffMe merger decision from NBR Radio on Vimeo.

There are more tough times ahead for Fairfax and NZME.

Both companies face massive challenges, and some of them are possibly not surmountable (and it’s worth noting that a merger would not have addressed the most pressing problem: Google and Facebook’s crushing dominance in online advertising).

But to make the most of the situation, you’ve got to have your staff on-side, and lay out a positive game plan. In those departments, only one chief executive was doing his bit yesterday.

Meanwhile, a poll of NBR readers shows just over two-thirds think the Commerce Commission got it right in its decision rejecting the merger.