Private Media has been hit with redundancies with the Crikey publisher explaining the restructuring was related to ‘a tough economic climate and falling revenue,’ according to reports.
According to an internal document sourced by The Australian, Private Media CEO Will Hayward announced eight redundancies – three in editorial and five non-editorial – as the result of a business plan that had not achieved the aim to “help revenue and audience growth initiatives.”
“Whilst we have seen some promising signs from the revenue and audience initiatives in progress, this has not been enough to counterbalance the overall reduction in revenue experienced,” it said.
“As a result, we have come to the unfortunate decision that redundancies are necessary and that we are required to restructure a number of roles and teams across Private Media.”
Those made redundant will be informed on Wednesday and will be asked to work until December 8, with the document stating, “however you’ll be paid longer than that, depending on your length of service’’.
Along with the redundancies, a broader restructure of the organisation is set to take place, with refreshed position descriptions expected for all staff by December 15 at the latest.
Mediaweek has reached out to Private Media for comment but not heard back at the time of publishing.
The news of the company’s restructuring comes as Lachlan Murdoch paid more than $1.3 million in legal costs to Private Media in August, after dropping defamation action against the company.
Murdoch originally sued Crikey’s politics editor Bernard Keane and former editor-in-chief Peter Fray over an opinion piece published last year linking the Murdoch family to the January 6th attacks on the US Capitol.
The publication reported that the Fox News CEO agreed to cover Private Media’s costs of $1.3 million in full which was more than the $1.1 million asked for, with the condition they donate all $588,735 secured from supporters of its GoFundMe defence fund to the Alliance for Journalists’ Freedom (AJF).
Read more: Crikey! Lachlan Murdoch pays $1.3 million to Private Media