Fairfax: The Rise and Fall

by Colleen Ryan

Fairfax—once a great Australian media company—faces a grim future. Newspapers worldwide are faltering in the face of competition from the internet, but the fate of Fairfax stands out as being particularly cruel. The carnage is barely credible.

Massive printing plants are being dismantled. Hundreds of fine journalists have been ushered from the building. The newspapers themselves are on notice. The future of the company is shaky.

The Rise and Fall is a story that is book-ended by young Warwick Fairfax and Gina Rinehart—the eccentric beneficiaries of two of the greatest family fortunes Australia has ever seen. But the real players in the Fairfax saga are the business and political giants. They include Kerry Packer, Rupert Murdoch, Conrad Black, John Howard, Paul Keating, Neville Wran, David Gonski, Roger Corbett and Fred Hilmer. The once-mighty Fairfax has been a victim of them all.

Colleen Ryan gives the definitive account of the fate of Fairfax, a drama-filled saga that reveals how far Fairfax has fallen.

Genres: Business

364 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.