Stop Press

About this book

There is a story that no one in the media seems to be willing to tell. It is one in which many journalists have a vested interest: the death of newspapers, traditionally the form known to break the biggest headlines, to chase the rumours to their source, and to undertake the most in-depth reporting. In 2011, Fairfax sacked 82 sub-editors at The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald, and outsourced their jobs. Now the title of 'sub-editor' no longer exists at these papers: the few subs that remain have new titles. Reporter Rachel Buchanan started work at The Age in 1993, as a sub-editor. At 25, she was about three decades younger than most of the bench. She worked five or six shifts before one of her headlines was published. In 2012, after a decade out of the newsroom, Rachel got a job on a newspaper again. This book is about what she found there. A unique insider's account of the rise and slow decline of print, this insightful, passionate book investigates one of the most fundamental transitions in the Australian media today. It exposes the brutal cost-cutting measures of companies intent on squeezing every drop of profit from print before they turn to digital, and examines the consequences for those affected: for it is not only the journalists and editors who are losing their jobs, but printers, paper-makers, and distributors whose livelihood is disappearing. Stop Press is a brilliant account from a journalist at the front lines of history.