Between the bombshell announcement of further deep staff cuts at Fairfax publications, subsequent strike action by Fairfax journalists, the handing down of the 2017 federal budget, and the much-publicised return of drug smuggler Schapelle Corby to Australia, the news in May was surprisingly strongly focussed on domestic Australian issues.<\/p>\n
But not all of these matters were reflected equally strongly in the Australian Twitter<\/em> News Index (ATNIX) for the month, which tracks the sharing of articles from Australian news and opinion sites on Twitter<\/em>.<\/p>\n The major story in the Australian news industry itself during May was the staff strike at Fairfax<\/a>, triggered by significant job cuts across the editorial offices of the Sydney Morning Herald<\/em>, The Age<\/em>, and other publications. The walkout \u2013 which also affected Fairfax\u2019s coverage of the federal budget \u2013 clearly received considerable sympathy from Australia\u2019s Twitter users; several well-connected Twitter users in Australia posted calls to boycott Fairfax sites and refrain from sharing their articles during this time.<\/p>\n We would like all readers of @smh<\/a> and @theage<\/a> to maintain their subs but DO NOT open the papers today or visit the websites. #fairgofairfax<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 MEAA (@withMEAA) 5 May 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n