And finally to Western Australia, where the state’s oldest and most important news outlet is being carved up by the bean counters:

Award-winning journalists set to lead talent exodus at The West Australian Two of WA's most awarded journalists will lead a talent exodus of up to 30 staff in a new round of voluntary redundancies at The West Australian newspaper. - WAtoday, 17 April, 2019

It is the third round of cuts in three years at The West, which took over News Corp’s Sunday Times in 2016 and consolidated two newsrooms into one.

And, according to the paper’s former political editor, Andrew Probyn, now at the ABC, it will mean:

ANDREW PROBYN: … losing literally centuries of experience … - Insiders, ABC, 21 April, 2019

Those departing include WA Journalist of the Year Gary Adshead, political reporters Daniel Mercer and Phoebe Wearne, chief crime reporter Gabrielle Knowles, highly-respected health correspondent Cathy O'Leary, long-time features writer Sue Yeap, and plenty more experienced beat reporters.

No wonder some readers, fellow journalists and the state’s deputy premier are alarmed:

ROGER COOK: We hope that this doesn’t represent a diminishing of the role of the media in our democratic lives. - ABC Radio Perth, 17 April, 2019

BRET CHRISTIAN: You just cannot do it with a, you know, a denuded newsroom and you can’t replace that level of experience and knowledge and talent with young reporters, no matter how talented they are. - ABC Radio Perth, 17 April, 2019

GEOFF HUTCHISON: … journalism will be poorer for this. It’s just a reality … - Drive with Geoff Hutchinson, ABC Radio Perth, 17 April, 2019

The journalists’ union called it a “devastating blow” for the state, explaining:

The departure of these journalists means local WA media is shrinking – and that translates to dramatically less coverage of crucial community issues. - Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance, 18 April, 2019

But The West Australian’s new editor, 33-year-old Anthony De Ceglie, says he’s confident the cuts will not harm the paper’s performance, and tells Media Watch:

West Australian Newspapers employs 226 staff in its editorial arm alone. This is one of the biggest investments in journalism in Australia. - Email, Anthony De Ceglie, Senior Editor, Seven West Media, 29 April, 2019

But cuts are not the only cause for concern. Critics say the paper is also becoming more tabloid.

Since 2016 The West Australian has had a copy sharing deal with News Corp, which injects east coast coverage and polarising commentators like Andrew Bolt and Miranda Devine into the paper.

And lately there’s also been a distinct News Corp flavour to the paper’s front pages and political coverage

Which is hardly surprising, because De Ceglie was a deputy editor at The Daily Telegraph until he was hired in December.

Julie Bishop’s retirement, for example, brought out the ruby slippers.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg was lauded before and after the budget.

And the paper has dived head first into the election campaign, with splashes like this on Labor’s health policy:

MEDISCARE 2.WHOA - The West Australian, 4 April, 2019

Some staff also point to this front-page screamer last month, which lined up with the mining sector – including the paper’s billionaire owner Kerry Stokes – to attack state environment policy:

OUT OF THEIR MINES REVEALED: Tens of billions of dollars at risk after pen-pushers call for ‘net zero’ emissions - The West Australian, 8 March, 2019

No doubt Kerry Stokes – who makes regular newsroom appearances – liked the sound of that.

Some reporters at the paper say coverage was in desperate need of a shake-up. But others – and nobody would talk to Media Watch on the record – are appalled by the change, not least because Perth is a one-newspaper town.

One recently departed journalist told us:

I and a lot of former staff I talk to regularly think it is being taken in completely the wrong direction. It’s turning into tabloid trash. Some of the headlines have been particularly jarring … - Twitter direct message, 24 April, 2019

Kate Ferguson, a freelancer who has also worked at the paper, agrees that coverage has gone downmarket:

… the “dumbing down” of news content to make it more appealing to a wider readership is not only insulting to its readers but also Western Australia's public in general. - Email, Kate Ferguson, 26 April, 2019

And another long-time reader as well as a former journalist and broadcaster at the ABC, Gerry Gannon, told Media Watch:

It has become a tabloid in the worst sense of the word. It lacks credibility, objectivity and relevance to what was once its core market … In addition, the arrival on its pages of Bolt, Devine, et al, has compromised the integrity of the paper. It has become partisan like never before. - Email, Gerry Gannon, 24 April, 2019

De Ceglie, of course, strongly rejects that, and any idea that the paper has become more trashy.

He admits it’s using more graphics and more sarcasm but says it’s also covering events like the banking royal commission in depth.

In a long statement you can read on our website, he told Media Watch:

The West Australian must compel our readers to pick up our newspaper through exclusive stories, expert analysis and dynamic presentation. And we must do it every single day. Retail figures since I started editing have shown that consumers are embracing this philosophy. - Email, Anthony De Ceglie, Senior Editor, Seven West Media, 29 April, 2019

De Ceglie says sales are up by 5 per cent this year.

Meanwhile, it’s worth noting that News Corp’s Courier-Mail in Brisbane has recently made significant cuts, and more are coming to The Australian. Seems we are not yet at the bottom.





Read the full statement from Anthony De Ceglie, Editor at The West Australian, here.