Fairfax: The Rise and Fall

by Colleen Ryan

COLLEEN RYAN gives the definitive account of the fate of Fairfax. It is the story of greedy media moguls, angry and ambitious politicians, foolhardy heirs and heiresses, zealous journalists, muddling management and the rise of digital media. The once-mighty Fairfax has been a victim of them all. A drama-filled saga that reveals how far Fairfax has fallen.
About the author

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Colleen Ryan was a Fairfax journalist for over 35 years. She is a former Editor of the Australian Financial Review and during her career she was Washington correspondent for the AFR and more recently China correspondent, based in Shanghai for 6 years.
Colleen has worked across the Fairfax group including a decade with the Sydney Morning Herald and five years with National Times. She has won three Walkley awards including the Gold Walkley and received a Centenary Medal for services to journalism and publishing, as well as the Graham Perkin Australian Journalist of the Year Award.
Colleen was co-author of the last book on Fairfax, Corporate Cannibals, The Taking of Fairfax, published in 1992.

Genres: Business

320 pages, Paperback

First published June 13, 2013

Reviews

[Aranka · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would give a 3.5 star rating. The depth of the insider details is what I wanted. Reading this book is like reading a novel, and perhaps more "useful" (realistic) than the latter. The real hook does not lie in fairfax itself, e.g. how the founders grew the business. Instead, the sheer number of moguls chasing a dyfunct media for its residual power of influence is startling. Sometimes you would forget that on the back of it are journalists that endeavour to create quality contents, and that the business was still operating. The story ends a bit abruptly but nevertheless sadly with the leaving of Fairfax' best journalists, alongside with a tycoon's opaque ambition. It ends like this partially because in reality, that is the case.

Even the dysfunctional would not die if it is still of interest. That might sound counterintuitive to a lot of our classic assumptions in textbooks. I often found the real world stories much more complex and therefore enticing than novels. Although I'm not familiar with Australian media, this book still makes its mark.

[Tara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Abandoned. I believe this would be engaging for someone interested in the topic of media and politics; but not for me.

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good history of the Fairfax newspaper publisher. Well written and gripping. Hard to put down. A bit dated now but still well worth reading. I'd love to see an updated version of this book.

[Garth · Rating 4 out of 5]

The nexus of wealth, politics and the media is a grubby place - particularly so in Australia.
This is the first business book I've ever struggles to put down.