FXJ - Fairfax Media

[McLovin]

No? Despite the proven business experience which contrasts pretty strongly with Fairfax's stuffup?

What do you think is in fact what Fairfax needs to lift it out of the mire?

Someone with experience in digitial media and how to monetise it. Until recently FXJ was a place for ageing directors to go and retire. Obviously Gina doesn't fit that mold, but at the same time what does she know about running a media company in the 21st century?

 

[Logique]

It's go Gina as far as I'm concerned. On balance, Fairfax organs perceive the world through a left wing lens. Gina at best might drag them back towards the centre.

They're going to start charging for online news access according to this mornings news. Bloated advertisement laden, slow loading websites anyway.

 

[notting]

.
They're going to start charging for online news access

Which will take them from being less relevant to irrelevant.

 

[waimate01]

Gina Rinehart buying Fairfax is a highly creative and strategic move.

It has been speculated that her interest is not in media per se, but in purchasing influence to pursue the interests of her mining companies.

But I think she's smarter than that. I think it's actually a masterstroke move to keep her inheritance away from her children. She'll do anything to keep the money out of their hands, and while she cannot practically turn it into hundred dollar bills and tear it up, buying a newspaper produces the same outcome. Without the toxic emissions that come from burning polymer notes.

 

[Calliope]

The Labor government is starting to panic over the prospect of Rinehart gaining a controlling interest in Fairfax.

Conroy (the Minister for Censorship) is making veiled threats.

Senator Conroy stopped short of flagging further media laws, but noted the Finkelstein and Convergence reviews into the media had considered media standards and new media ownership models.

The government is yet to announce its response to either review.

Senator Conroy said Ms Rinehart wanted to turn the company into the "mining gazette".

"She is entitled to representation but what she is not entitled to do is trash the brand for all the other shareholders," he told ABC radio.

"She should be aware that that charter is something that readership of The Age, the Sydney Morning Herald, believe in and have supported over many, many years.

"If she was to directly interfere and breach that charter, it would actually lead to a crisis of confidence among the readership, and if the readership deserted, the share price for every shareholder would decline.

By "trashing the brand" Conroy means changing it's left wing orientation.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/med...ial-independence/story-e6frg996-1226400804787

 

[MrBurns]

Conroy is an idiot.

How dare he speak about Rinehart or anyone else in those terms, just like that dufus Swan saying Palmer was a threat to democracy.:bad:

 

[JTLP]

Perhaps Rinehart will inject some business nous (after all she is pretty ) and put some pretty smart cookies on the board. Doubt she's in this to keep money from the kids - rather sees this as a savvy investment/a way to fire back at Labor.

Groan at Conroy/Swan etc. If Gina went to say one bad thing about the Labor gov't she'd be censured to the point that her lips would be zipped

 

[Julia]

Someone with experience in digitial media and how to monetise it. Until recently FXJ was a place for ageing directors to go and retire. Obviously Gina doesn't fit that mold, but at the same time what does she know about running a media company in the 21st century?

So what names can you come up with who can offer expertise in digital media with the level of business nous and success that Ms Rinehart can claim?

To suggest that because she lacks thus far digital media experience she is unqualified doesn't do your usual level of intelligence and objectivity justice, McLovin. She would sure as hell have the capacity to quickly learn anything she needed to.

People with sound business skills can fairly easily transfer those skills to various types of businesses.

At least she knows how to make money work for her, something that has apparently thus far escaped the Fairfax board.

 

[Ves]

At least she knows how to make money work for her, something that has apparently thus far escaped the Fairfax board.

I'm surprised you haven't picked up on the fact that she's most likely sitting on a massive capital loss in her Fairfax Holding as it stands.

What makes you think that the skills used in navigating the biggest mining boom in Australia's history is going to help her navigate the biggest media headwinds that the industry has ever seen?

So what names can you come up with who can offer expertise in digital media with the level of business nous and success that Ms Rinehart can claim?

There are lots of listed online businesses on the ASX that have been successful in the last decade, all of them obviously had to monetise web traffic. Digital media, sure try: SEK, CRZ, REA for starters. Hasn't REA's share price grown at an average of 59% for the last decade or something similar since the lows of 2003?

 

[Julia]

I'm surprised you haven't picked up on the fact that she's most likely sitting on a massive capital loss in her Fairfax Holding as it stands.

It's your assumption that I'm not aware of a capital loss at this stage which is a bit silly. Of course I'm aware of that.
You could presumably liken her to your value investor who loves the idea of buying something that's - according to them - undervalued, and using their skills to improve the business.

What makes you think that the skills used in navigating the biggest mining boom in Australia's history is going to help her navigate the biggest media headwinds that the industry has ever seen?

What makes me think she's more capable than most people of this is the way she has so enhanced her inheritance. The woman has a long history of being successful in business. If you don't think business skills are at least partly generic, I don't suppose I can explain it to you.

Look, this thread is all about inbuilt bias one way or the other.
If you and others dislike Ms Rinehart and don't want to see her extend her influence into diverse parts of the Australian business landscape, you will doubtless find heaps of 'reasons' to object to her.

I can't be bothered trying to defend what I have said over and over again.

If you disagree with me, that's quite fine with me.
We'll see what happens.

I'm just a bit sick of entrenched, failed people rejecting the opportunity to have their businesses improved by someone who knows what they're doing.

 

[McLovin]

Look, this thread is all about inbuilt bias one way or the other.
If you and others dislike Ms Rinehart and don't want to see her extend her influence into diverse parts of the Australian business landscape, you will doubtless find heaps of 'reasons' to object to her.

Just to be clear, Julia, I wasn't actually saying she is not entitled to a board position. Anyone with 20% of a company deserves a seat at the board table. I just don't think she will bring all that much to FXJ. I guess on this we will have to agree to disagree. As Vespuria pointed out, there are companies that have been eating FXJ's lunch for the last ten years, so clearly there are people in the industry who understand the industry very well and what works. If I was an FXJ shareholder, then I'd like to see some of them brought onto the board.

 

[notting]

If you consider the popularity of the Labor party at present as reflected in the QLD elections, you'd think she could name it 'Rineharts Rag' make Clive Palmer editor in chief and headhunt Andrew Bolt to do the front page every day and the thing would go through the roof.
It would be a hard decision at the news stand - hmmmmm this or MAD Magazine today?

 

[Logique]

The Wall Street Journal : Sydney Morning Herald, The Age Newspapers Worthless: Deutsche - http://blogs.wsj.com/dealjournalaus...herald-the-age-newspapers-worthless-deutsche/
As reported in Tim Blair's blog : http://blogs.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/timblair/ (my bolds under)

http://blogs.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/timblair/

And from the accompanying article:

Fairfax Media’s Australian metropolitan print business, including flagship mastheads The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, is worthless despite a dramatic restructuring, in the eyes of Deutsche Bank analyst Andrew Anagnostellis.

“Our unchanged 67 cents a share price target is based on our forecast FY13 sum-of-the-parts valuation which incorporates a nil value for the metro print business,” Mr. Anagnostellis said in a note to clients in the wake of Fairfax’s announcement it would launch a three year restructuring initiative.

Never fear luvvies, the balanced David Marr has taken up the baton, the editorial stance will be protected from the satanic influence of industrialists like the RinehartRinehartRinehart.

 

[McLovin]

That's the valuation for the print business, it excludes smh.com.au and theage.com.au

There's no doubt, in my mind at least, that newspapers will probably be gone within the next 10 years.

 

[prawn_86]

There's no doubt, in my mind at least, that newspapers will probably be gone within the next 10 years.

It's amazing to me the similarities between newspaper co's and record companies. Both old, slow, monoliths that would rather try to litigate, complain and sack thier way out of any trouble, which obviously doesnt work. Rather than try and develop new opportunities.

Talk about living in the past

 

[McLovin]

It's amazing to me the similarities between newspaper co's and record companies. Both old, slow, monoliths that would rather try to litigate, complain and sack thier way out of any trouble, which obviously doesnt work. Rather than try and develop new opportunities.

Talk about living in the past

This is from Lateline last night and shows pretty well the point I've been making about the lack of real media experience on the FXJ board...

Aplogies for the length of the quotes but Beecher raised some pretty good points. I've tried to keep as much of the political debate about Rinehart owning FXJ out of the quoted pieces because I think they don't belong in a stock chat thread.

EMMA ALBERICI: Gentlemen, thank you very much for joining us, tonight.


If I can start with you, Eric Beecher, because it's now legend that eight years ago the then-chairman of Fairfax, Dean Wills, asked you to provide an analysis of the future of the broadsheets The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald.

What was the prognosis, if you like, that you came up with?

ERIC BEECHER, PUBLISHER, CRIKEY: I came up with what I described as a "potential catastrophe scenario" for Fairfax, which involved them losing 30 or 40 per cent of their classified advertising over the next five years.

I argued to them that if they felt there was a 10 or 15 per cent chance of that scenario occurring, they needed to take out some insurance against that. As it turned out, my scenario was undercooked by probably half, it was twice as bad, but they did nothing.

EMMA ALBERICI: When you suggested some kind of insurance, in your words, what did you mean by that?

ERIC BEECHER: I wanted to get the discussion going with them, inside their boardroom, to look at some overlapping strategies. But mainly I just wanted them to realise that there was a fire in the cinema and that they had to do something to put it out.

EMMA ALBERICI: How was that report that you took something like two months to prepare, how was it received within the boardroom?

ERIC BEECHER: As I wrote in my piece in Crikey today, it was received fairly blandly by most people, but one of the board directors was very agitated about it in the boardroom at the time and stood up, after I had finished speaking, and he picked up a copy, a fat copy of the Saturday Sydney Morning Herald that was on the table, and held it up in front of the boardroom and said to them, "I don't ever want anyone coming into this boardroom again, telling us that people will buy cars or look for jobs without this," and he thumped it down to the table. That person was Roger Corbett, who was then a director and is now the chairman.

http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2012/s3528963.htm

ETA: Is there a word/character limit on posts? I had a few quotes to put in there but it kept "reseting the connection" until I trimmed it

 

[prawn_86]

My last post on the issue, as its not specifically related to FXJ, but I personally think it is due to the short-termism and materialism imposed by the market, and Western society in general. Very few people at the top (politicians, execs etc) have long term vision anymore.

Why do the execs really care as long as they are pulling in fat pay cheques every year? I know i probably wouldn't... Just look back on it and think "oh well, we tried and made plenty of money along the way"

 

[Julia]

ETA: Is there a word/character limit on posts? I had a few quotes to put in there but it kept "reseting the connection" until I trimmed it

Maybe refer this to Joe. I have repeatedly had the same problem and it's annoying.
I thought Joe said he has recently increased the character limit, but your post suggests not.

 

[Ves]

What makes me think she's more capable than most people of this is the way she has so enhanced her inheritance. The woman has a long history of being successful in business. If you don't think business skills are at least partly generic, I don't suppose I can explain it to you.

I will ignore the parts of your post that are under what I have quoted, because it is full of strawman / ad hominem fallacies.

I will say however that I do not really have an opinion either way about Rinehart. I also do not have a vested interest or extensive opinion about Fairfax. This discussion to me is more about business people and recipes for success than anything else. It may or may not be relevant to current or future holders.

Prior success in business / investment and business experience and skillsets is definitely an advantage. But it is not a guarantee of success or even a measurement of capability.

I will add two points to support what I mean by this:

1) History is littered with businesses / business people who attempted to diversify into or enter markets that they had no previous experience in. Many of these were unsuccessful and a lot destroyed their previous wealth.

I am sure that you can provide examples that disprove this (and you probably will) but I am certain that there are just as many, if not more, that prove the generalisation.


2) Most successful businesses and their owners / managers are successful not only because they have the relevant wealth building skills and mindset, but because they have developed a circle of competence or expertise in what they do. I think without this, it is more likely that a person or business will end up as yet another example of point 1.

Rinehart is successful in her resources businesses, because most likely, she has been exposed to the business her whole life, knows it inside out and basically lives and breathes it. She was, to my knowledge, very reclusive with the media until 2010 when she joined in the anti-MRRT campaign. Perhaps something has changed, I don't know.

 

[Julia]

Leaving aside your first paragraph, that's a sensible and logical post.
Great points. I agree.
Still think she could bring considerable expertise and skill to the ailing Fairfax, but hell, I don't really care.
I'm not a reader of their products and am not a shareholder.