The coverage of the 2017 federal budget will be lighter than normal as Fairfax Media journalists remain committed to their week-long strike.
Without the usual flurry of political and economic editors, commentators and specialised reporters, readers would notice the difference, says The Age associate editor Tony Wright.
While veteran journalists are conflicted about missing the federal budget, they say it's warranted given the future of the industry is at stake.
"The reason somebody who's been in journalism for as long as I have is doing this (striking), really, is in the interests of those who will follow me and my older colleagues - the younger journalists," Mr Wright told AAP on Monday.
"We want a future for them, we want a future for journalism in Australia."
Mr Wright would have been covering his 30th budget this week.
Instead, he'll spend the day at home in Melbourne "going about my life in a most unusual way".
"I don't know what else I'm going to be doing. Maybe I'll write a book."
He said management would send a small team into Tuesday's budget lockup.
At a protest with about 60 staff outside Parliament House in Canberra on Monday, Herald journalist Matthew O'Sullivan said Australia was at a crossroads with the media industry on its knees.
"This is about the removal of the fourth estate, an essential pillar to what we all take for granted - democracy," he told the protest.
The week-long strike has been called "extraordinary" by Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance union chief executive Paul Murphy
"It's simply the wrong call to make, to keep cutting and cutting at the core of journalism," he told the Canberra rally.
Fairfax management argues the job losses are necessary to find savings but staff are demanding the company find other ways to improve the bottom line.
Fairfax Media shares jumped to a five-week high on Monday after the struggling company's board said it was considering an unsolicited $2.2 billion proposal to split up its businesses.
