Fairfax Media Chairman Ron Walker has continued to be undecided over whether he will step down from the company's board, with his latest proposal suggesting he will delay his decision until the annual shareholders' meeting in November, the Australian Business Journal reported Wednesday.

In an interview with The Australian Financial Review, Walker originally said he would retire at the end of next year. However, this prompted director and major shareholder John B. Fairfax to demand Walker step down as part of the company's "board renewal" plans.

The annual general meeting is scheduled for Nov. 10. The Australian Business Journal suggested that Walker would promote deputy chairman Roger Corbett as his successor. The Fairfax family has expressed agreement with Corbett in the chairman position, but would prefer an independent outsider. Fairfax, meanwhile, has claimed that he has enough support within the shareholders to prevent Walker from being re-elected. This support includes a number of the company's premier investors.

The boardroom disputes has seen the newsroom stand up for corporate roles, the Business Spectator reported on Wednesday. Two former newspaper editors, Steve Harris and Gerad Noonan, and online publisher Stephen Mayne, will campaign for positions on the Farifax board.

"With quality journalism under deep stress ... the last thing the company needs is the latest display of corporate madness, more reminiscent of testosterone-fuelled activity of ageing bulls in the bottom paddock," Noonan said, according to The Australian.

Harris is former editor of Melbourne's Herald Sun and is the current editor in chief at The Age. Mayne announced his plan to run for the board yesterday on his personal e-newsletter, The Mayne Report.