Activity down under

Our Asia brief covers Australia and, although we don't very often find our attention pointing in that direction - more's the pity - two stories related to Fairfax did catch our eye.

In the first, blogger Mark Jones talks about the all-to-rare news of an IT-related publication increasing its editorial team. Fairfax's MIS is hiring. This follows a restructuring earlier this year when the magazine's editorial staff was merged with that of the Fairfax flagship business title, Australian Financial Review.

Then, over at Bloomberg, we noticed another Fairfax story. Chief Executive David Kirk is quoted as saying that the company "may add travel and financial services to its Internet sites to boost sales as print advertising growth slows". The report adds:

"As traditional revenue from newspapers slows and circulation declines, it's all about expanding your revenue streams to provide growth,'' said Jason Teh, who manages the equivalent of about $4.1 billion in Australian stocks at Investors Mutual Ltd. in Sydney. "You have to have a serious presence on the Internet.''

Rupert Murdoch has budgeted $2 billion to acquire Internet assets. In Australia, he has taken control of realestate.com after a bid valuing the company at A$269 million ($199 million). Publishing & Broadcasting, controlled by Kerry Packer, last month acquired a 41 percent stake in carsales.com.au.