Fairfax Magazines New Zealand, publisher for some of this country's biggest titles, is inviting staff to go on to a nine-day fortnight so it can avoid job losses.

Staff were told yesterday but it was not linked to a Standard & Poor's surprise move to downgrade Fairfax Media's credit rating.

Fairfax Magazines New Zealand staff have until the end of next week to decide whether they want to take part in the Government scheme that subsidises them for some lost income.

Fairfax Magazines produces high-profile titles such as TV Guide, NZ House & Garden, Cuisine, Sunday magazine and the recently purchased NZ Life & Leisure.

General manager Lynley Belton said the scheme was voluntary for staff and if it accepted for the scheme, Fairfax Magazines had until July 1 to adjust work practices.

FAIRFAX DOWNGRADE

Fairfax Magazines is not alone among media companies stung in a dramatic advertising downturn. All media are having to adjust.

But corporate management at Fairfax Media in Australia faced another disappointment yesterday when Standard & Poor's lowered long-term corporate credit and debt ratings for the media company to BB+ from BBB-.

The decision adds $10 million to the interest bills for Fairfax in the coming financial year.

Standard & Poor's said that this and another rating action reflected ongoing deterioration of Fairfax's advertising earnings.

Earlier this week, Fairfax warned its fiscal 2009 underlying earnings would fall by 27 per cent to about A$600 million due to a sharp deterioration in advertising revenues.

Chief executive Brian McCarthy was quoted as saying that while disappointed by the Standard & Poor's downgrade, he was confident Fairfax would weather the economic conditions.

DEGRADING

Exiting Sunday Star-Times About Town columnist Bridget Saunders says it will be a relief to turn up at social events now without people feeling "scared of her". Although she said it was only people who did not know her that feared her.

Saunders - who announced her departure last week - said she was focused on writing books about "unpleasant debilitating and degrading sexual experiences - one about women and one about men".