News Corp is slashing dozens of editorial jobs across the country, with nearly a third of the cuts coming from Victoria.
The company has already identified the positions to go and some staff have put their hands up for voluntary redundancies, MEAA's director of media Katelin McInerney said.
Of the 55 positions identified, 15 are at Melbourne's Herald Sun and Weekly Times newspapers. Another two jobs are set to go from News' regional titles in Victoria.
Ten positions are also expected to be cut in Adelaide, six in Tasmania, six in Sydney, four in Brisbane, and seven across regional Queensland and Northern Territory papers.
Another five group editorial positions are also on the chopping board.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
"The guys on the ground are once again gobsmacked," Ms McInerney said.
"At a time when they're saying their subscriptions are up and readership is up ... they are cutting coalface staff, people who are experienced, skilled journalists.
"These are already stretched newsrooms."
Ms McInerney said staff were expected to leave the company within the month.
In a statement, News Corp confirmed there would be "a number of redundancies".
"We are making changes to our newsrooms to meet our ever-changing consumer information needs," a spokesperson said.
"We will continue to invest in premium journalism as the key to driving subscriptions. We will see new people come into our newsrooms, people with different skills and talents."
