In this account of the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age, Ben Hills describes the causes and consequences of the broadsheets’ decline. Having worked for 30 years at both papers, Hills is a ‘lifer’ who is personally and professionally familiar with his material. He identifies the problems which have stricken the printing and publishing industry worldwide, further compounded by strategic responses of Fairfax executives. For example, millions were spent on a new printing plant in Tullamarine (2001), and new office headquarters in Sydney (2008) and Melbourne (2009). In April this year, the plant was closed and its presses dismantled.

It is when narrating the human consequences of mismanagement, such as Fairfax chief Greg Hywood’s 2012 restructuring towards a ‘Fairfax of the Future’, that Hills’ book is differentiated from others on the same topic. Journalism can be an idealistic profession, often at odds with the pursuit of profits. Hills writes with compassion of the individuals struggling with the end of these institutions, and for many, the more prosaic end of a career.

There are, however, alternative futures for journalism, as represented by the post-Fairfax careers of the diaspora. Some, like Hills, freelance. Others are employed by the Guardian, which is backed by a trust and subsidised by profits from its auto-trading site. Outside Australia, a promising example is the sponsorship route, where a journalist or photographer is funded to pursue a story. Glenn Greenwald disclosed news on global surveillance for the Guardian, while for the New York Times, Luke Mogelson and Joel van Houdt documented their journey to Christmas Island on an asylum-seeker boat.

Like its title, Hills’ thesis is comprehensive. With regards to the decline of Fairfax Media’s leading broadsheets, the fault isn’t in the internet, but in short-sighted stakeholders and helmsmen. To sacrifice the ephemeral asset of journalistic talent is to sacrifice institutional purpose, effectively gutting the fourth estate. The coda – and consolation – is that those news institutions that do survive the transition from print to digital media will be those whose trustees know to balance profits with purpose.

Maloti Ray is a freelance reviewer.