Gina Rinehart continues Fairfax Media crusade Australia's richest woman, Gina Rinehart, has continued her campaign against the board of Fairfax Media voting against three of the four resolutions at its shareholder meeting today including the re-election of its two female directors. Mrs Rinehart's representative at the meeting, Hancock chief development officer, John Klepec, criticised the board and editorial direction of the publisher of the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, but he did not vote her stock against the one resolution that could have lead to a spill of the board - the resolution to adopt the remuneration report. After helping to deliver last year's first strike - with more than 25 per cent of investors voting against it - a vote against the report this year would have triggered a resolution to spill the board. The resolution passed with more than 97 per cent of the vote thanks to Mrs Rinehart not voting her 15 per cent stake. Mr Klepec would not say what Mrs Rinehart planned to do next: ""Watch this space,"" he said. But Mr Klepec made it clear that the appointment of Mrs Rinehart's long-time friend, Jack Cowin, to the Fairfax board had not softened her criticism of the company and its direction. Despite the company talking up its readership improvements ""the numbers speak for themselves, the revenue is negative."" Earlier, Fairfax Media warned it is yet to see a sustained uplift in consumer confidence since the Abbott Government was elected last month, reflecting the views of other media and retail companies. Fairfax chief executive, Greg Hywood, told shareholders that overall revenues are down 6 per cent from the start of July compared to the same period last year. "The post-election advertising cycle is not proving to be robust and advertising bookings are short, providing limited visibility," he said. When asked to explain the vote against the re-election of the two directors, Sandra McPhee and Linda Nicholls - as well as the resolution to award performance shares to Mr Hywood, Mr Klepec looked to the big race earlier this week for inspiration. ""Given its Melbourne cup week, it's apparent the donkeys are the first to eat and drink at the Fairfax stables, the thoroughbreds eat and drink last,"" he said without providing any further explanation. Mr Cowin said he is very much supportive of the board. When asked about Mrs Rinehart's vote against most resolutions he noted that she had abstained from voting against the remuneration report: ""Which is the right thing to do, so I am happy with that."" As well as battling years of soft advertising, Fairfax is feeling the pinch of deep structural change taking place through the global media industry. Readers and advertisers are increasingly moving online where profit margins are much thinner. Mr Hywood said revenue at Fairfax's Metro Media unit was down 9 per cent from the start of the 2014 financial year while revenue at its regional newspapers was down 10 per cent. Revenue from New Zealand was down 4 per cent, but up 7 per cent in Australian dollar terms. Fairfax's radio revenue was in line with last year. Revenue at Fairfax's real-estate marketing arm Domain's was up 4 per cent from the start of the July backed by gains in online listings. Mr Hywood said strength was likely to continue in the Domain business given a lift in real estate activity - particularly in Sydney. He said Fairfax was on track with its cost savings program with costs to be down a further 4.6 per cent this financial year. This comes on the back of a 6 per cent drop in costs a year earlier. Mr Hywood said the broader Fairfax of the Future cost reduction program is on track, and will continue beyond the 2015 financial year. This involves take $311 million in costs out of the business by financial 2015. Mr Hywood said costs savings are expected to lift even further through financial 2016. Fairfax is undergoing a major restructure process. As well as cost cutting including launching businesses with new revenue streams that leverage the media company's audience. This includes new revenue from metered digital subscriptions that were introduced for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age at the end of June. Mr Hywood said take-up has so far has exceeded expectations, with the two mastheads attracting in excess of 86,000 new digital subscribers. Elsewhere, the business is pushing deeper into events and content marketing that includes niche newsletters, mobile apps and research papers. "We have designed our new structure with our eyes firmly on the future, we are committed to being a lean and agile organisation that is focused on digital revenue opportunities, building new businesses and maximised cash flow from our still-strong print businesses," Mr Hywood said. with AAP