MEAA calls for stronger worker consideration as Future News continues rollout

The Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) has called on Nine Entertainment to manage the increasing concerns from journalists, camera operators, editors and production staff regarding pay, workloads, and workplace conditions, as the network goes ahead with its Future News initiative.

While members of the MEAA at Nine Entertainment remain dedicated to producing the top-tier journalism behind flagship broadcasts like Nine News, workers have highlighted key issues with the Future News program.

Employees have contended that this updated structure significantly increases job duties and expectations, yet lacks adequate acknowledgement or compensation for the staff tasked with incorporating these adjustments.

Matthew Burton, MEAA acting media director, recognised that while staff support innovation and technological enhancements in newsrooms, transformation should not come at the detriment of fair pay, sustainable workloads, safety, and journalism of a high standard.

“Nine’s success is built on the skill, experience, and dedication of its journalists, camera crews, editors, and production staff,” Burton said.

“Workers are being asked to do more, learn new skills, take on additional responsibilities and adapt to a fundamentally different news production model.

“It is only fair that these changes are matched by appropriate remuneration, training, protections and recognition.”

Employees at the network have highlighted disappointment at the company’s response to claims alerted by staff and union representatives, noting that little movement on key workplace issues, despite concern spread across the newsroom.

People have argued that the success of Future News will be dependent on retaining workers with vast experience and ensuring the transformation is implemented in a way that is ethical and capable of producing high-quality journalism.

Talking to HR Leader, Burton showcased concerns regarding employee retention for the network, along with quality issues, as a result of unrealistic expectations.

“The Future News rollout is seeing journalists, producers and camera operators take on the responsibilities of editors, graphic artists, media exchange technicians and news librarians on top of their current roles, with limited training,” Burton said.

“Dozens of employees in the Sydney newsroom alone are being made redundant, and the remaining workers are expected to pick up the slack.

“Future News is in its early stages and has only been rolled out in Sydney so far.

“Employees are expecting further redundancies in every city Nine News operates across Australia.

“This is not only causing significant stress for the hard-working employees of Nine News, but is also affecting the quality of the bulletins.”

It’s not the first instance in recent times that the MEAA has surfaced issues at a broadcasting network, with the association recently playing a central role in negotiating and campaigning for the new ABC enterprise agreement, to support staff through industrial action and secure improved pay, more concise career progression, robust job security and safeguards around AI use.

Burton also noted issues with the Future News transformation program, regarding journalists keeping in touch with their connections and finding new stories.

“These changes limit the ability of journalists to build relationships with their contacts, research stories and find and develop new stories as they are now deployed elsewhere,” Burton said.

“Quality journalism depends on properly staffed newsrooms, realistic workloads and workers having the time needed to produce accurate, trusted and public-interest reporting.

“Protecting jobs, maintaining safe workloads and involving employees in decisions that affect their work are essential to the long-term sustainability of news organisations and the quality of Australian journalism.

“Technological change should strengthen newsrooms, not come at the expense of secure employment or public-interest journalism.”

MEAA has called on senior management at Nine Entertainment to return to negotiations with staff and union representatives to cater for workers’ concerns and secure a solution that assists both employees and the future success of Nine’s news operations.

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