Nine Entertainment will cut about 30 editorial roles from its metropolitan publishing business as the owner of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age accelerates its shift towards digital news and subscriptions.
Voluntary redundancies will initially be offered, although targeted cuts may follow. Additional positions are expected to go at nine.com.au and within Nine’s print operations, meaning the final number of affected jobs could exceed 30.
Nine has not announced the closure of any newspaper or plans to end its printed editions. The restructure concerns staffing, production and how resources are divided between print and digital publishing.
How many Nine Entertainment jobs are going?
About 30 roles are expected to be removed from Nine’s metropolitan editorial operations. The affected publishing network includes The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, Brisbane Times and WA Today.
The company has not provided a breakdown showing how many journalists, editors, subeditors, photographers or managers are affected. Separate cuts are planned at nine.com.au and in print operations, but those numbers remain undisclosed.
Nine Publishing managing director Tory Maguire informed employees about the changes through an email and staff meetings on July 21. Consultation with affected workers and the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance is expected to follow.
Which newspapers and operations are affected?
- The Sydney Morning Herald: Editorial roles are affected.
- The Age: Editorial positions are included.
- Brisbane Times and WA Today: Part of the affected metropolitan publishing network.
- nine.com.au: Further cuts are expected, but no number has been announced.
- Print operations: Production-related positions face separate reductions.
- Australian Financial Review: Not affected by this restructure.
Are SMH and The Age closing?
No. Nine has not announced that The Sydney Morning Herald or The Age will close, stop printing or become digital-only.
Readers can continue accessing the mastheads through their websites, apps, subscriptions and printed editions. The effect on individual news sections and local coverage will become clearer after Nine confirms which positions are being removed.
Why is Nine cutting publishing jobs?
Nine says it must adapt to changing reader habits, a difficult advertising market and technological disruption. Its strategy places greater emphasis on paid digital subscriptions, mobile audiences and online news production.
Print revenue has performed better than Nine previously expected, but newspaper circulation remains in long-term decline. Nine and News Corp renewed their printing agreement for another five years in 2025, showing that print remains part of the business even as staffing priorities change.
Is artificial intelligence responsible?
Nine has not said that AI is directly replacing the affected workers. However, AI search tools are changing how people find news. Features such as Google’s AI Overviews can answer questions without sending users to the publisher’s website, potentially reducing referral traffic, advertising income and subscription opportunities.
Publishers are therefore seeking licensing agreements that provide payment and attribution when AI services use their reporting.
What is Nine’s Microsoft Copilot deal?
Earlier in July, Nine signed an Australian-first content agreement allowing Microsoft Copilot to reference journalism from its mastheads, including material beyond the short previews normally visible outside a paywall.
The agreement comes as Microsoft expands through significant investment in Australian AI and cloud capacity.
According to the official Microsoft announcement, Nine’s journalism can help ground Copilot answers with attribution. Readers will still require a subscription to open complete paywalled articles.
The deal’s value has not been disclosed. UBS analysts reportedly estimate it is worth less than $25 million, making it unlikely to have a major immediate effect on Nine’s earnings.
Is Nine Publishing losing money?
No. The publishing division generated $526 million in revenue and $153 million in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation in the 2025 financial year.
Declining print revenue was partly offset by digital subscriber growth and approximately $33 million in cost reductions. UBS forecasts publishing earnings of about $152 million for the 2026 financial year, compared with an estimated $136 million for Nine’s broadcast division.
If confirmed, publishing would be more profitable than broadcast for the first time. Nine is scheduled to release its full-year results on August 26.
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How does this compare with other media cuts?
Nine is not the only Australian media company reducing staff as advertising weakens and audiences move online. Southern Cross Media has announced plans to cut up to 300 jobs after an earnings downgrade.
Nine has also made earlier reductions across publishing and television. Its wider business has changed following the $1.4 billion sale of its Domain stake, the sale of its talk-radio division and the $850 million purchase of outdoor advertising company QMS.
What has the media union said?
The MEAA has called the cuts devastating and urged Nine to provide full information, consider redeployment and prioritise voluntary departures over compulsory redundancies.
The union warned that repeated newsroom cuts could increase workloads and affect diversity, reporting quality and public-interest journalism. The final impact will not be known until Nine confirms the affected positions and completes staff consultation.
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