Fairfax business journalist Paddy Manning has been sacked for writing an opinion piece fiercely critical of the publisher's recently-announced restructure and its use of so-called "advertorials".

The senior reporter was dismissed yesterday afternoon after writing an online piece for Crikey, in which he attacked the company's restructure plans and the editorial practices at the Australian Financial Review.

Manning described a new Commonwealth Bank-sponsored column as "rubbishy" and said it was a perfect example of why the business sections of the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age should not be merged with the Financial Review Group.

He said such "creeping advertorials" came at the expense of proper business reporting and analysis.

Manning's axing is likely to overshadow this afternoon's planned meeting between Fairfax journalists and the media union, the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance.

The MEAA is yet to comment on the sacking, but will meet with journalists to discuss the company's restructure plans.