Nine Entertainment Cuts 30 Newsroom Roles Amid AI Disruption

Nine Entertainment announced the elimination of approximately 30 roles across its metro editorial division, affecting The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, Brisbane Times, and WA Today. Managing Director of Publishing Tory Maguire informed staff via email and a town hall meeting that the restructure is necessary to adapt to an extreme state of disruption caused by artificial intelligence. Maguire stated that AI has disrupted the industry more than the internet or social media, framing the cuts as an evolution to ensure the organization grows commercially and connects with new audiences.

The company will initially offer voluntary redundancies and intends to retrain staff for data-informed, digital-first roles. While the cuts extend to nine.com.au and print operations, The Australian Financial Review remains unaffected. This move follows a recent deal with Microsoft to monetize content through the Copilot AI chatbot and aligns with a broader $100 million cost-reduction target announced by CEO Matt Stanton in 2024. Previous cuts included 20 jobs in April 2026 and 200 roles two years prior.

The Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance condemned the announcement as devastating. Union representatives urged the company to prioritize redeployment and voluntary options over forced redundancies, warning that repeated job cuts jeopardize workloads and the quality of public interest journalism.