‘Simply pathetic’: Nine staff stand down as ‘serious stories’ happen in Paris

Sky News Digital Editor Jack Houghton has criticised Nine Newspapers staff standing down days after “serious stories” happening in Paris involving Australians as “simply pathetic”. Nine staff and journalists have walked off the job for five days just days out from the Paris Olympics opening ceremony. The industrial action threatens to impact Nine’s coverage of the first days of the Olympics. “Nine Newspapers has sent a large cohort of journalists to cover the Olympics in Paris while the company has spent hundreds of millions of dollars securing rights and licensing,” Mr Houghton said. “But the moment has been overshadowed by strikes, as staff ask for a 20 per cent pay rise over three years, at a time that the business has been plagued by a dwindling share price and mass redundancies. “The Guardian has also reported that some other staff in Paris who are not striking are disgruntled that their colleagues will down tools. And they have every right to be angry because there are some serious stories happening in Paris which involve Australians.”