Author: Mark Fletcher

Further to my post on Tuesday about the Australian Newsagents’ Federation, I was disappointed to read tonight that the ANF is advanced in reviewing applicants for the CEO role. This search is being undertaken at the same time that the ANF is in deep discussion with at least two state associations and others about their future. Restructure scenarios have been put on the table, some a radical departure form the current structure. The ANF Board is kidding itself if it thinks it can tell the states it wants to discuss a new structure and then go ahead and appoint a CEO without knowing what the new national body looks like.

Given the failure of the ANF to serve the needs of newsagents over Bill Express and the multi million dollar cost of that mess to newsagents and for the reasons I outlined Tuesday, newsagents would, in my view, be better off ignoring the ANF and creating a new national body to serve their policy and some national representational needs.

The Australian Newsagents’ Federation is currently calling for nominations for four Board vacancies. My view is that the Board ought to postpone this process for the following reasons:

• Newsagents have lost faith in the ANF. This is evidenced by membership resignations and the ridicule with which the ANF is held by many newsagents.
• Newsagent suppliers have lost faith in the ANF. This is evidenced by suppliers which previously would only work with the ANF now happily working with associations such as the QNF.
• The ANF is not demonstrating relevance. ANF communications to newsagents for the last three months have lacked
• The ANF lacks leadership. When was the last time you heard a Director of the ANF speak to newsagents on an issue of vital importance to the future of our channel.
• The ANF lacks a plan. Earlier this year some Directors proposed breaking the current ANF model and starting again. Two weeks later they changed their mind.
• The ANF lacks a plan (2). The Board sacked the CEO several months ago in an effort to diffuse growing discontent among newsagents about Bill Express. This is the second CEO sacking by this Board. The difference this time is that they did not have a plan, the organisation has been without leadership since.
• The ANF failed newsagents over Bill Express. In 2003, the organisation led newsagents into Bill Express without any due diligence. In 2008, when Bill Express collapsed, the ANF failed to accept responsibility for its actions and provided what now appears to be
• The ANF has governance problems. I discovered that the Directors paid themselves too much for their Board meeting in May. It took considerable pressure from me to get them to agree to pay this money back. Their behaviour makes me suspicious about other decisions they may have made which favour them. At the very least, an independent (of the ANF) audit is essential.
• The ANF is out of touch with newsagents. When the last time you were invited to a discussion about representation through the ANF? This Board has been missing in action through one of the most challenging years newsagents have faced in decades.
• The ANF ignores due process. In several instances this year the ANF has announced commercial arrangements without any contract being signed and without due diligence.
• The ANF puts itself ahead of its members. On Bill Express, the Board was too scared to apologise for poor advice to newsagents out of fear of retribution from members. They need to understand that newsagents will not be as prone to use legal threats as they, the ANF Board, are against those who criticise them.

The ANF is currently looking for a CEO who can help build new revenue streams. The ANF does not need new revenue streams. What it needs, now more than ever, is to be reinvented – from the ground up. The CEO search should be put on hold while newsagents are consulted nationally about the relevance and future of the organisation. The Board will not do this because they would be scared of what they would hear.

Newsagents need a new national body focused on national policy and representation issues. No commercial activity, no negotiating to take a cut of money which belongs to newsagents. No expensive Board costing a lot to achieve little for newsagents.

The new national body should have a small Board of those best suited to represent newsagents. It should operate a small secretariat dealing with national policy and representation matters. All commercial activity should be managed in a newsagent owned commercial entity – as has been announced by the ANF and never acted upon.

If the ANF wanted to truly serve the needs of newsagents it would set the process in motion to replace itself with a better constituted and more focused association. To do that it would take guts. The Board would have to put newsagents ahead of themselves.

So, yes, the ANF election is irrelevant. It will go ahead, new Directors will be elected and newsagents will have more of the same. The only way to change this is for member newsagents to take control of the organisation by calling a Special General Meeting.

I took this picture while out shopping on the weekend. It breaks my heart to see a newsagency without stock, especially in core category such as greeting cards. This situation reflects not only on the individual newsagency but also all other businesses operating under the newsagency shingle.  It also reflects on the supplier brand names represented inside the business.

Our industry associations need to develop a national plan to deal with newsagents in difficulty. Such a plan would need to cover assessing the cause, co-ordinating support if considered appropriate and monitoring the results of any such activity.

With the economic challenges which have emerged in the last few months, more retailers will struggle.  Unless the industry has a co-ordinated national response, too many newsagents will be among those who close their doors unnecessarily.