Managing director of publishing at Nine, James Chessell (Image: Nine/Supplied)
Managing director of publishing at Nine, James Chessell (Image: Nine/Supplied)

In May, when Nine signed a six-month trial with the revamped AAP news wire service — roughly two years after it and News Corp (the pair collectively held 90% of AAP’s shares) had made the call to shut it down, Mumbrella made a raised eyebrow allusion to the fact that Nine’s negotiations with its staff over a proposed pay deal had stalled.

Nine at the time denied it had any inkling that a strike might be on the way.

Long-time watchers of what used to be called the Fairfax papers will remember that The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald heavily relied on AAP’s copy back in 2017, when the workforce engaged in a wildcat strike in response to the announcement of 125 redundancies.

And wouldn’t you know it, this week the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance announced that industrial action was indeed on its way, after “more than 82% of MEAA members at the Nine mastheads have voted ‘yes’ in a ballot to take protected industrial action”.

Nine’s managing director of publishing James Chessell was at the Mumbrella Publish conference yesterday, and was feeling a lot more candid:

Under the new model, where AAP news wire is basically a government-funded model with a bit of commercial revenue on the side, I think that’s more sustainable. What do we get from it? I’m not going to lie, it gives us cover when there’s industrial action.

How will Nine staff react to James Chessell’s pearls? Let us know your thoughts by writing to letters@crikey.com.au. Please include your full name to be considered for publication. We reserve the right to edit for length and clarity.