Fairfax Weekly papers close

SEVEN Weekly mastheads across Melbourne’s east and south-east have been axed following an announcement on Tuesday afternoon.
Fairfax’s Metro Media Publishing (MMP) announced it would close the Casey Weekly Cranbourne, Casey Weekly Berwick-Pakenham, Knox Weekly, Monash Weekly, Maroondah Weekly, Peninsula Weekly and Frankston Weekly.
The last publication will be the week beginning 17 June, with 32 redundancies, the equivalent of 27 full-time positions, being lost as of 14 June.
In a letter to staff on Tuesday morning, MMP CEO Antony Catalano said the Dandenong Journal would continue in what has been a difficult decision for the publisher.
“The east division was losing several million dollars at the time of the merger with Fairfax in July 2012,” he said.
“We went into the deal aware of the substantial losses and committed to trying to turn the business around.
“While we have done a good job of reducing the losses, the unprofitable titles remain a financial drain on the company.”
Mr Catalano said in the email that senior managers will work with employees affected by the job cuts.
“We have certainly tried a lot of things over the past 12 months to attempt to reinvigorate the business, and we have given it our best shot,” he said.
“We should all be very proud of what we have achieved over a long period of time.”
The Pakenham-based Star News Group, which publishes this paper, has recently purchased the Albury-Wodonga News Weekly, Tweed Coast Weekly, Port Macquarie Independent, Southern Free Times in Warrick and the Armidale Independent.