Startup independent business publisher Capital Brief has made a splash in the Australian media landscape, and after over a year of operation, Crikey chatted to CEO Chris Janz about how the publication is faring.
Capital Brief, described in Crikey as “a new Australian business publication that’s like if the Australian Financial Review was written for people without grey hairs but fired any subeditors who tried to reduce their word count”, launched last year with a subscription-based model that promised to eschew targeted advertising. Since its launch, it has leaned on Janz’s former Nine/Fairfax stable for its staff — Janz left Nine in 2021 as chief digital and publishing officer, having joined Fairfax in 2016. Capital Brief co-founder David Eisman was the former director of subscriptions growth at Nine/Fairfax, while chief political correspondent Anthony Galloway joined from The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald. Media reporter John Buckley joined from Crikey, but was also at Nine previously.
Janz told Crikey this week the establishment of a new “from scratch” publication with a “significant paying audience” was one of Capital Brief’s biggest wins to date.
Significant indeed — a subscription to Capital Brief costs $39 a month, or $348 annually.
An editorial statement sent by editor in chief John McDuling (previously the national business editor at the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age) proclaimed to waitlist subscribers:
“We are unabashed enthusiasts for free market capitalism, but believe that for an economy to function properly business must be rigorously scrutinised by the media. We take no sides in partisan politics. And we will never tell our audience how to vote. We believe the transition from fossil fuels to renewables and the race to net zero represent the biggest shift to the economy in decades, with significant implications for politics and society.”
“It’s been a long time since Australia has seen a new, ‘from scratch’ publication investing heavily in quality journalism. If you look around the independent landscape, Crikey is 25 years old, The Monthly is 20, the local Guardian has been here for more than a decade,” Janz said.
Capital Brief broke the story of a staffer for government Minister Murray Watt leaving cabinet documents on a plane at Doha Airport last year. It also secured the first interview with independent WA Senator Fatima Payman, just hours after she defected from Labor over the party’s position on Gaza.
Asked how the first year had gone — Janz described it as “so much fun … it’s a privilege to have had the backing to test, learn and build a masthead firmly focused on being additives to the national conversation”.
Scire Pty Ltd, the Janz-founded publisher of Capital Brief, is backed by private equity firm Shearwater Capital, the fact of which has been subject to speculation in The Sydney Morning Herald over Capital Brief’s independence.
An October item in the SMH‘s CBD column asked whether Shearwater’s backing had any influence on Capital Brief’s coverage of embattled WiseTech CEO Richard White — Shearwater was founded by early WiseTech investors.
EIC John McDuling took to LinkedIn to refute what he described as “clearly an agenda-driven item”, and also told CBD that “investors have no involvement in our newsroom”.
Janz described Capital Brief’s core principles as “break(ing) stories down, we don’t beat them up”.
“Journalism doesn’t have to be about taking scalps and throwing stones,” Janz said.
“We know who is reading because our articles are behind an email-led paywall. Our most engaged readers are decision-makers across politics, policy, banking and finance, the law, technology and startups, private capital, and media. It’s no coincidence that they’re the sectors we cover the most,” he said.
Asked about Capital Brief’s relationship to his former employer Nine, and Capital Brief reporters being “poached” from the media giant, Janz said he wouldn’t use the term.
“Our journalists have come from a range of places … the one thing our team has in common is genuine subject-matter expertise and the motivation to build and grow a masthead that genuinely matters,” Janz said.
“While Australian media can be fiercely competitive, some of the sector’s best-known leaders have been amazingly supportive, both as subscribers and privately. There are few who care about our sector that would argue against the creation of more journalism jobs!” he said.
On launching the publication, Janz told The Australian that Capital Brief didn’t “want to just be throwing grenades from the side like Crikey“. Asked about whether that had been achieved in the first year, Janz said Capital Brief’s “newsroom has no agenda beyond breaking news that is relevant to our subscribing audience. That’s a real differentiator in a broader media environment that could be seen as bifurcating and agenda-driven. Our growing subscriber numbers and audience would suggest that approach is welcome”. Janz would not be drawn on the specific numbers, only saying he was “extremely happy with our progress to date”.
At a panel at SXSW Sydney back in October, Janz was drawn on the much-publicised culture issues at Nine, saying they were “blatantly obvious … the first day that I walked in there”.
“This didn’t require an independent third party to come in and conduct an investigation that has resulted in a report that doesn’t lead to any consequences,” he said.
Asked how one copes with that kind of culture and whether it affected him, Janz clarified he was referring to Nine specifically and not Fairfax: “I joined Nine as a result of its merger with Fairfax in December 2018, and my unashamed focus was to ensure the publishing and digital teams could continue to produce outstanding journalism while we improved the business’ financial footing. I am relieved the cultural issues at Nine are now in the open and hope the report leads to genuine change.”
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