CORONAVIRUS CUTS

News Corp Plans Huge Layoffs in Australia, Discontinues Print Versions of 112 Papers, Shutters Dozens Entirely

“Print advertising spending, which contributes the majority of our revenues, has accelerated its decline,” the company’s regional chief said.

Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp is planning large staff cuts in Australia as the novel coronavirus devastates the media industry and the world economy. The company will also convert 112 of its papers to digital only and eliminate their print editions; 36 of those will shutter altogether. Union representatives said they found out about the layoffs via leaks to the press. News Corp’s regional chief, Michael Miller, thanked employees for “years of service” and explained the cuts by saying, “COVID-19 has impacted the sustainability of community and regional publishing... Despite the audiences of News Corp’s digital mastheads growing more than 60 percent as Australians turned to trusted media sources during the peak of the recent COVID-19 lockdowns, print advertising spending, which contributes the majority of our revenues, has accelerated its decline.”