The Rise and Fall of the House of Fairfax

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 its best journalists have been ushered from the building. The newspapers themselves are on notice. The future of the company is shaky. This book looks at who is responsible for the fragility of Fairfax. In short, who or what killed Fairfax. Was it the greed of media moguls, the anger and ambition of politicians, the stupidity of heirs and heiresses, the zealotry of journalists, the muddling of management? Or can the internet be blamed for it all? This 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 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. All have had a hand in the fate of Fairfax.