What’s going on at Australia’s Nine Entertainment would doubtless have former proprietor Kerry Packer turning in his grave.

The week has seen a succession of moves at the Australian Financial Review, ungenerously referred to by NewsCorp’s The Australian as “Nine’s trade pub”.

At the heart is the departure of columnist Joe Aston to launch his own online financial commentary site Rampart.

That site’s ‘Authors’ page tells a story: Aston himself is a (now former) AFR columnist; Ivor Rees had a stint as the Fin’s Chanticleer columnist in the late 1990s.

The AFR/Herald connection continues with Amelia McGuire (tech at the AFR and business at the Sydney Morning Herald), Ben Butler having had a stint at The Age, John McDonald (art at the Herald and films for the Fin but now has his own Substack newsletter), and Julie Hare, also ex AFR, and Stephen Todd, who “is” (present tense, according to Rampart) the design editor of the Financial Review. Which makes Gideon Haigh’s having “written for more than 100 newspapers and magazines” look less significant.

We look forward to watching to what extent they can unseat the 75-year-old Financial Review, and to what extent Rampart will hold to its ideals. Access to the paywalled subscription site is of course, limited. But not so limited as to prevent access to Aston’s business interviews, preceded by personally-delivered messages from his sponsors.

And Nine? Even without the Oz’s deprecating assessments, it’s hard to ignore the problems, with key personnel changes at the top. But don’t ignore the talent either.

After regaining and losing Amanda Laing – made redundant after 18 months – Nine is now welcoming its first female editor-in-chief for the Financial Review in Cosima Marriner… with the prospect of a female chief executive not, perhaps, too big a stretch.

Meanwhile, a radiant-looking 97-year-old Bruce Gordon is watching Nine’s changing fortunes and waiting for the opportunity to fulfil a lifetime ambition. While noting his increasing holding and its own simultaneously falling share price, now at a record low.

Watch this space…

Peter Coleman