news in brief...


STANDARD DROPS ITS MEDIA COLUMN London’s Evening Standard has ended its weekly media column, which was written by Roy Greenslade. The move leaves the Guardian as the only national newspaper with a weekly media section. The Independent, which had a weekly media column, is no longer in print.


EX READERS’ EDITOR ELLIOT JOINS IMPRESS Chris Elliott, a former Guardian readers’ editor, has joined press regulator Impress as a consultant. Impress was created as an alternative to the Independent Press Standards Organisation. Mr Elliott is also an adviser to the Ethical Journalism Network and is chair of development charity Concern UK.


GLASGOW GETS NEW LOCAL WEBSITE Trinity Mirror has launched Glasgow Live, its latest standalone digital website. Glasgow Live follows Belfast Live and Dublin Live. The publisher said that Belfast Live attracted an audience of more than one million unique users in less than five months. Like the other titles, Glasgow Live will produce local news and features.


FREE TITLE SEEKS CROWDFUNDING Hastings Independent Press, a community-led free newspaper, is seeking £15,000 investment through crowdfunding to improve its new office and build up its distribution service. The fortnightly title is run on a small budget and staffed by volunteers.


BBC RUSSIAN MARKS 70TH ANNIVERSARY The BBC’s Russian Service marked its 70th anniversary in March. The now-digital service has a Russian-speaking audience of 5.5 million weekly listeners. The words “Govorit London” (“London calling”) became familiar to people in the then USSR, bringing international news and stories which were ignored or silenced by the domestic press.


4 | theJournalist


Guardian cuts jobs and shelves venue plan


he Guardian Media Group is cutting 250 jobs – including 100 journalists’ posts – and restructuring parts of the business in a drive to break even within three years. The group is also abandoning plans to redevelop a former railway goods shed in London’s King’s Cross, near the Guardian’s offices, into a cultural venue.


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Last year, the publisher of the Guardian and Observer lost £58.6 million.


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The job cuts amount to about 18 per cent of the workforce. The company has said that it hopes all the job losses will be achieved by voluntary redundancies.


Last year, the publisher of the Guardian and Observer lost


£58.6 million


In a joint email to staff, editor-in-chief Katharine Viner and chief executive David Pemsel said the “volatile media environment” had led to an “urgent need for radical action”. “Our plan of action has one goal: to secure the journalistic integrity and financial independence of the Guardian in perpetuity,” they wrote, adding that compulsory redundancies would only be considered only “if necessary”.


A statement from Ms Viner said: “These proposals form the basis of a collective consultation process. We have elected employee representatives and have in place NUJ and Unite representatives across the organisation.


“While we are confident these proposals will make a significant contribution to our target


of reducing our current cost base by 20 per cent, we will continue to take the necessary action to manage our cost base and sustained market volatility in order to protect our journalism in perpetuity.”


Brian Williams, NUJ father of chapel at the Guardian, said: “We are encouraged by the fact the company is seeking voluntary redundancies and is looking to mitigate potential job losses by finding other cost- cutting measures.”


Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ general secretary, said: “This is a major blow for the staff of the Guardian and Observer and for journalism as a whole. We will oppose any compulsory redundancies.


“This news, together with the loss of jobs as the Independent newspaper folds, presents a very worrying situation for the future of newspapers.”


Union members win £4 million in payouts


The union offers a comprehensive range of legal services to its members on workplace disputes, as well as a wide range of other issues that affect NUJ members and their families.


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The union’s legal services, which can include reference to outside lawyers, are available for free to members of the union in the UK and Ireland. The union can also provide legal advice for members working outside the UK and Ireland.


he NUJ’s legal services, which include advice, support and negotiations, helped win more than £4 million in compensation on employment settlements for union members last year.


EX NUJ CHIEF DEAR JOINS IFJ


eremy Dear, a former NUJ general secretary, has become deputy general secretary of the International Federation of Journalists.


Jeremy left the NUJ nearly five years ago to travel


around South America with his wife Paula, a former BBC journalist. They have been travelling, mostly in a camper van, since then. Working at the IFJ, which is based in Brussels, is also a homecoming for Jeremy,


who grew up in the Belgian city. The IFJ was founded in 1926 and represents, via journalists’ unions, more than 600,000 members in 139


IAN PILBEAM / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO


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