Fake news, Facebook and Fairfax are set to dominate discussions of a powerful new Senate committee looking at the future of journalism in Australia.

Key points: Labor, the Greens, Nick Xenophon Team and some crossbenchers instigated the Select Committee inquiry

Labor, the Greens, Nick Xenophon Team and some crossbenchers instigated the Select Committee inquiry Greens senator Scott Ludlam says Fairfax sacking 115 editorial staff is a "disaster for the country"

Greens senator Scott Ludlam says Fairfax sacking 115 editorial staff is a "disaster for the country" Nick Xenophon says Facebook and Google are cannibalising Australian journalists' content, keeping revenue

Labor, the Greens, the Nick Xenophon Team and some of the Senate cross bench banded together to instigate the Select Committee inquiry the same day Fairfax journalists returned to work after a week-long strike.

Fairfax is planning to sack 115 editorial staff, a year after sacking 120 in another round of cuts, prompting staff to pass a motion of no confidence in chief executive Greg Hywood.

Labor senator Sam Dastyari said he would like the chance to question media executives at the inquiry.

"Mr Hywood would be the appropriate type of person we'd invite to an inquiry like this," he said.

Executives and others who decline to attend could be ordered to appear by the Senate.

A consortium led by US private equity firm TPG Capital has made a $2.2-billion bid for the company.

Greens senator Scott Ludlam said he was concerned commercial interests were replacing public interest reporting.

"Our real concern is that we're seeing the commercial imperatives taking over and that Fairfax is effectively being asset-stripped," he said.

"That we have journalists who are simply costing this property money and they're trying to clean out the books as rapidly as possible.

"That's a disaster not just for Fairfax but for the rest of the country."

Fake news threat also set to be examined

The role of Facebook and Google in the spread of "fake news, propaganda and public disinformation" will also be examined.

Senator Ludlam said it was not the intention for the Government to intervene in media outlets' editorial independence.

"I don't necessarily believe there's any role for Australian regulators in taking on the fake news question," he said.

"But if there are these very targeted, coordinated and well-resourced efforts to undermine democratic processes around the world, we owe it to the public to find out how it's being dealt with in other jurisdictions."

The inquiry will also examine whether traditional news outlets are being cannibalised by digital giants like Facebook and Google.

Social media sites profit from the aggregation and distribution of news content, but Senator Xenophon said they did not share the advertising revenues with the publishers.

"Facebook and Google between them rake in $3.2 billion in advertising revenue by piggybacking and cannibalising the content of Australian journalists and Australian newsrooms," he said.

"As a consequence, we have a situation where Australian media is in crisis."