In this edition of On Background, the media union investigates pay irregularities at News Corp, Lachlan Murdoch’s corporate divorce, and a potential white knight emerges for The Roar

With Foxtel out the door, ads and subscription revenue down, plus no cash coming in from Meta, it’s safe to say the dollars aren’t flowing freely into Holt Street, News Corp’s HQ in Australia. The company’s local filings showed a net loss for the second year running this week.

Published late on Wednesday, the accounts showed a net loss after tax of $27.4 million for the year, while growth of digital subscriptions for the news mastheads has slowed, finishing the financial year at 993,000, adding just 25,000 across the year.

But it seems News has another headache in the pipeline, having recently handed over a stack of documents to the media union, which suspects the company has underpaid a significant number of staff over the past decade.

News Corp Australia owns a range of local assets including The Australian, the Herald Sun and The Daily Telegraph.Credit: Rhett Wyman

The MEAA is inspecting an initial tranche of timesheets and wage reports, provided by News, relating to its Melbourne-based staff, which were requested under the Fair Work Act. And the union is preparing a much wider request, spanning at least 120 union member staff, with the list of affected staff likely to grow longer, On Background was told

The MEAA’s suspicion relates to News’ remuneration for staff working overtime, particularly as they are required to pay any staff member working more than five shifts in a seven-day week double for any additional days worked. The bill for News could be in the millions if the union’s suspicions are proved true.

While News doesn’t have anywhere as near a unionised workforce as the ABC, Guardian or Nine Publishing (owner of this masthead), it is still one of the largest employers of journalists in Australia, giving the MEAA a decent representation inside business.

But MEAA media director Cassie Derrick tells On Background that the excessive and potentially unsafe hours many News Corp journalists have allegedly worked without fair compensation is a direct result of how many staff members News has made redundant over the past decade.

“If News Corp insists on sacking the bulk of their workforce........

© The Sydney Morning Herald