Elizabeth Gosch | April 03, 2008
SEVEN Network chairman Kerry Stokes has publicly questioned the performance of The West Australian's editor, saying the newspaper was failing its readership and calling it a poorly laid-out, self-indulgent and unattractive product.
Kerry Stokes addresses a Business News Success and Leadership breakfast at Perth Convention Centre. Picture: Colin Murty
Mr Stokes, who is fighting to gain two seats on the board of West Australian Newspaper Holdings (of which Seven owns 19.4 per cent), launched a scathing attack on The West in front of a sold-out breakfast crowd of more than 1200 in Perth.
Attendees included mining entreprenuer Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest, former WA premier Richard Court and NAB chairman Michael Chaney.
"It's pretty simple: write the stories people want to see, have a front page cover that people want to pick up and buy," Mr Stokes said. "Instead, the front page of the paper invariably is not a paper which people want to pick up and pay money to read ... it is poorly laid out and I don't think it achieves the objective that consumers want.
"It's no good having self-indulgent people writing what they think is really good. They (readers) want to know they are going to get what it is they are paying for. At the moment, The West is living on its reputation more than it is living on its delivery and performance."
Mr Stokes, who is seeking a board seat for himself and Peter Gammell (head of Mr Stokes's private company Australian Capital Equity) at an extraordinary meeting on April 23, for the first time questioned the content ofthe newspaper and the performance of its editor, Paul Armstrong.
"This is about bringing a newspaper back to the standard we want it to be in the state," Mr Stokes said.
"It seems (The West's) editor is in conflict with everybody."
Mr Stokes said the $480 million investment in WAN was Seven's only non-performing asset. The newspaper had been consistently losing readers for thepast five years and had relied on that fall in circulation for its profit increase.
Mr Stokes said he expected The West to slip further into obscurity.
"If I sat here five years ago and said: 'In six weeks from now in the May survey ... The Sunday Times will be the highest selling newspaper, above the Saturday West Australian', that would have been a bit silly, a joke," hesaid.
"I promise you in the next survey that will become a reality and with that comes a financial cost, a premium. There's always a premium of being No.1."
In February, circulation figures showed the weekday circulation was down 1.18 per cent and circulation for the flagship Saturday edition dropped by 3.5 per cent. Readership was down 4.6per cent.
While producing a newspaper that readers wanted to buy and read was essential to lift sales, Mr Stokes said the WAN board also needed to address the failure to deliver the newspaper on time and to readers outside Perth.
"When you can't deliver it on time, when you can't deliver it through the state and when people stop buying it, it's time to sit down and say what are we doing wrong," he said.
"Ten years ago in Broome they sold 600 newspapers a day. This year in Broome they sell 300 newspapers a day. Why is that? The paper goes up on the afternoon flight and arrives at 3pm in the afternoon ... it is not relevant if it doesn't arrive in time for people to read it."
During his half-hour speech, Mr Stokes also attacked The West's $210 million printing press upgrade.
"It is probably seriously the worst planned and laid out press hall I have seen in all the press halls I have been to," he said.
WAN chairman Peter Mansell and directors Jenny Seabrook, Mel Ward and Erich Fraunschiel - who in March declared they would not work with Mr Stokes or Mr Gammell if they were elected directors of the company - have claimed the election of the two to the board would prove a conflict of interest, particularly when it came to advertising strategy.
Mr Mansell yesterday held a press conference at which he backed editor Armstrong and accused Mr Stokes of trying to take over the company at a cheap price.
"This is all about a competitor trying to get into our boardroom, trying to take control of the company without paying a premium," he said.
"I'm very comfortable withthe look and feel of the paper because we do a lot of surveys and what we get back is the look and feel of the paper is just what our customers want."