news


Guardian to cut nearly one in three US jobs


operations break even. The move comes as The Sun is also cutting jobs. The number of Guardian


T


staff in the US is expected to reduce by almost one third – from 140 to 100. In an email to staff,


editor-in-chief Katherine Viner (pictured) said the cuts were “difficult but necessary” if it was to break even in the next financial year, despite the Guardian being “among the top five digital newspaper platforms in America”. A spokesperson said: “We


remain committed to Guardian US and to building on the remarkable success of our journalism. “However, we said in January that we want GMG to break even at an operating level within the next three


he Guardian is making more job cuts as it attempts to make its US


£209.5 million. Not including one-off costs, the revenue decline resulted in a pretax loss of £68.7 million, compared with £14.7 million in the previous year. There is also pressure on jobs at The Sun which is cutting about 20 subeditor positions. Most of the cuts are expected to hit the print edition of the paper as it channels more resources to online editions. The Sun’s website was


years and that no part of the business can be immune from tough action to secure the Guardian in perpetuity.” Since March, more than 260 jobs have been cut in the UK under a voluntary redundancy programme, which aims to save £17 million a year. Falls in print and digital revenue led to an £8 million drop in turnover to


relaunched in June and is now the fastest growing national newspaper website in terms of daily unique browsers. The Audit Bureau of Circulations said that web traffic to The Sun grew 128 per cent year on year to just under three million browsers per day in August. The leader is still the Mail Online, which has 15 million browsers per day.


Letters and obituaries A


nions at ITV – the NUJ, Bectu and Unite – have reacted angrily to its plans to close its defined benefits pension scheme to future accruals. They are seeking a


U “ ”


big thank you to those who sent letters in response to our appeal in the last edition when, unfortunately, the letters pages couldn’t be run because there weren’t enough. Now we have a bumper amount.


Here’s hoping that those who care that we continue to have a comment section will carry


on letter writing. In a similar vein of connectivity, there have been some calls for obituaries to be in the magazine. Space is an issue for obituaries in the magazine as we simply can’t run all the ones we receive. But we will look at running some obituaries. As space is limited, please keep to 200 words maximum. Obituaries should be sent to journalist@nuj.org.uk


ANGER OVER ITV MOVE ON PENSIONS


meeting with the pension trustees following a “disappointing” meeting with management, who were criticised for failing to provide sufficient information on the


proposal, including the numbers of deferred and active pensioners. The proposals were issued in July, days before confirmation that company profits had risen by nine per


cent to £425 million in the first half of 2016. Adam Crozier, ITV chief


executive, said the company aimed to save £25 million in 2017 because of uncertainty since the EU vote.


OXFORD GETS NEW PAID-FOR PAPER A new paid for paper in Oxford was launched in August. The Oxford Paper is produced by independent publisher Taylor Newspapers and it is taking on Newsquest titles The Oxford Times and Oxford Mail. It is Taylor Newspapers’ first paid-for publication. Managing director Howard Taylor said the title was a response to Newsquest’s launch of free paper The Oxfordshire Star.


KEEP UP TO DATE Moved house or changed your email address? Let us know! Log in to the NUJ website to check and update your membership record or email: membership@nuj.org.uk


theJournalist | 03


More than 260 jobs have been cut in the UK under a voluntary redundancy programme, which aims to save £17 million a year


in brief...


MPS SUGGEST STAFF REP FOR BBC BODY The NUJ has welcomed a cross-party culture, media and sport committee report which suggested a staff representative on the new unitary body to oversee the BBC. It has been a long-standing policy of the NUJ to have staff representation on the BBC board. The union believes many of the recent problems and scandals, financial and otherwise, experienced by the corporation could have been prevented if staff had had a voice.


PAY FREEZE AT THE INDY AND STANDARD Journalists at the Independent and Evening Standard have been told that they will not receive a pay rise this year due to the “weak” print advertising market. An email to staff said that a year-on-year decline of 15-20 per cent had been forecast for print advertising next year.


US PRESSED OVER REPORTER’S FLY BAN Reporters Without Borders have called on the US to allow a British journalist to travel to the country. Karl Penhaul, an NUJ member who has worked extensively in Colombia, was put on a no-fly list two years ago. He appealed and was told that records had been amended but he is still unable to fly. The campaigning group has urged the US to resolve the situation immediately.


2015 RICHARD BORD


TIM ELLIS


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