It was not what you’d call a stellar performance by The Age’s new editor-in-chief Andrew Holden, who went on the Jon Faine program on ABC Melbourne yesterday morning to score some points at News Limited’s expense about that company’s reluctance to reveal its digital circulation figures. Rather ironic, given what happened next.
When Holden was asked by a talkback caller whether The Age would be developing an Android app, he answered in a way that revealed he didn’t know that the paper already had one — a point revealed after the interview by several listeners who tweeted in to say that they were listening to the program on their Andriod devices! Oops.
Earlier in the interview he had failed to explain The Age‘s “buy the weekend papers and get the weekday ones free” subscription deal. Faine had to tell him that such a deal existed. During the course of the interview, he also revealed the age of one of his female reporters — and promptly apologised on air for doing so. This was information he was privvy to because he has just signed off on her redundancy.
For those Fairfax employees considering their futures, the boss’ performance would not have inspired great confidence.
I am pleased to witness the failings of what were once the giant gatekeepers of what gets a run in the print media. Edward James