news


Call for action to tackle a crisis in regional media


regional media as it staged a week of events around the country in its Local News Matters campaign. It has sent a petition to


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Karen Bradley, the culture secretary, urging her to look at the reduction in local news titles. The NUJ has calculated that 300 local newspapers have closed in the past 10 years. The decline in regional titles means that more than half of all parliamentary constituencies do not have a dedicated daily local newspaper.


The union has said: “Most local newspapers are owned


by big business. Four companies – Trinity Mirror, Johnston Press, Newsquest and Tindle Newspapers – own nearly three-quarters of all local newspapers. This market domination has allowed these companies to generate profits and offer executives bumper pay packets while cutting journalists’ jobs and freezing wages.”


he union has stepped up its call for a public inquiry into the crisis in


Public meetings, leafleting and other campaigns were staged last month in all the NUJ’s regions. Many MPs have backed the campaign, believing that a vibrant local media is vital for local democracy.


The union published


research showing that more than 400 local journalism jobs have been lost in the UK. A majority of the job losses


were made by Newsquest (139) with Trinity Mirror and Johnston Press both cutting about 100 journalists’ jobs in the period. The research found that 60


per cent of the UK population now live in areas that are not served by a local daily newspaper.


in brief... “ ” Pay freeze at Johnston Press J


ournalists at regional publisher Johnston Press have been hit with a six-month pay freeze.


Staff have been told that all annual


pay reviews in editorial have been postponed as the company seeks to cut costs. The move means that many journalists at the company will not have their next pay review until next year. NUJ reps at Johnston Press are


consulting members on the pay deferral, which amounts to a real-terms wage cut this year and


follows years of below inflation increases. And they also plan to question whether the company’s top executives will be getting bonuses this year.


A Johnston Press group chapel


spokesperson said: “News of this six month pay freeze has come as a huge blow to beleaguered editorial teams who put their hearts and souls into producing quality journalism for their readerships in the face of continued cuts, dwindling staff levels and increasing workloads.”


TELEGRAPH OUTSOURCES SUB-EDITOR JOBS


to the Press Association’s Yorkshire headquarters as the UK newspaper group launches another round of cost


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he Telegraph Media Group is to outsource the majority of its newspaper sub-editing operation


cutting. The company has opened a consultation process with its employees which is expected to lead to the loss of more than 20 journalists. The redundancies are focused entirely on sub-editors who produce the


group’s newspapers from its London offices.


The move comes as the Telegraph


said that Andy Coulson, the former News of the World editor, will be doing PR work for the company.


Research found that 60 per cent of the UK population now live in areas that are not served by a local daily newspaper


MORE JOB CUTS LOOM AT THE GUARDIAN The Guardian’s editor and chief executive have warned staff to ‘anticipate’ more redundancies as the news group enters the second year of its three-year turnaround programme. In the plan the newspaper has cut 250 jobs and reduced its operations in the US. An email to staff said that further cost savings were needed in order to to break even by 2018/19.


IAN HARGREAVES JOINS BBC BOARD Ian Hargreaves, former editor of the Independent and New Statesman and BBC news and current affairs director, has been appointed to the new BBC Board. Hargreaves, who is professor of Digital Economy at Cardiff University, is joined by Paralympic gold-medal winner Tanni Grey-Thompson and Tate Modern director Nicholas Serota among others.


CAMPBELL JOINS THE NEW EUROPEAN Alistair Campbell, Tony Blair’s former spokesman, has joined the New European as editor at large. The New European was launched by Archant and was intended to run for as long as there is a demand. Campbell is a former political editor of the Daily Mirror.


DORSET TITLE BACK AFTER 40 YEARS The Christchurch Times has been relaunched after more than 40 years out of print. The weekly Dorset title, which is owned by Newsquest, has a dedicated reporting team of three journalists and is a paid-for title.


THE COUNTRYMAN MARKS 90TH YEAR The Countryman is celebrating its 90th anniversary this month. A spokesperson said ‘little had changed in rural areas for centuries’ when the title was founded. “Most working-class country folk lived a simple life; many still doffed their caps to the squire. Few people had cars, and the bulk of visitors were the better off from the cities and larger towns.”


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