news in brief...


GUARDIAN IS GOING TO SAN FRANCISCO The Guardian is opening an office in San Francisco which it says will help its 24/7 editorial coverage, bridging the time zones between New York and Sydney. Merope Mills will head up the office and she will be joined by Paul Lewis as west coast bureau chief, and Jemima Kiss as head of technology.


STUDENT AWARDS DEADLINE LOOMS Students have a few days left to submit entries via the Guardian Student Media Awards 2015 site. The deadline is 11 September. Applications are open to students aged 18 and over on a higher education course. Full entry requirements are on the site.


NEW CHAIR FOR MAGAZINE SOCIETY The editor of the Institution of Engineering and Technology’s E&T magazine is the new chair of the British Society of Magazine Editors. Dickon Ross is thought to be the first chair from the business and professional magazine sector. The chair normally comes from the consumer sector.


EX-NOW REPORTER MOVES INTO DRINKS Former News of the World reporter Lucy Panton is the new head of communications at the Wine and Spirit Trade Association. Her appointment follows the quashing by the Appeal Court of her conviction for conspiracy to commit misconduct in a public office. She was cleared with the help of an appeal publicised by Press Gazette in which journalists helped to pay her legal aid contribution.


LOCAL WORLD SEES ITS PROFITS RISE Local World’s pre-tax profits for last year was £43.6 million, up from £38.9 million for the previous year. Daily Mail and General Trust and Trinity Mirror, which own 59 per cent of Local World shares, earned more than £25 million between them as a result. In the year to last December, sales were £221 million, down four per cent.


4 | theJournalist “ ” A


We are obviously pleased that an agreement has been reached and trainees will now be paid the London Living Wage in future


Newsquest deal after south London dispute


A


n amicable solution has been reached between NUJ members


and Newsquest South London following lengthy negotiations between the two parties. The settlement follows a lengthy strike at south London titles in the summer. NUJ members called a strike over job cuts, staffing levels and pay for 12 days but stopped the action for talks. Compromise was eventually


achieved over plans to restructure the editorial department and a number of other elements, including an agreement to pay trainee reporters the London Living Wage.


Gary Kendall, managing


director for Newsquest South London, said: “We are pleased to have reached an agreement acceptable to both sides which satisfies our


commitment to provide high quality editorial content for our print and online products in the future”. Laura Davison, NUJ national organiser, said: “We are obviously pleased that an agreement has been reached and trainees will now be paid the London Living Wage in future. We do, however, remain concerned that the staffing level is too low and we will be monitoring the situation in the run-up to the agreed three-month review. In reaching this agreement I would like to pay tribute to our members who showed real commitment to local journalism and their readers. The chapels would like to


thank and acknowledge all the support they received from NUJ members and chapels, local MPs, councillors and Assembly members and readers.” But more jobs are going


in Newsquest operations elsewhere. Former Romanes group titles in Berkshire, now owned by Newsquest, are to outsource the production of advertisements to India and production hubs in Southampton and Newport. The company said


seven jobs are to go in management, news, photographic and sport on the Oxford Mail and other titles in Oxfordshire. Two photographer roles are being cut in Bournemouth.


Irish Congress backs media commission call


delegates: “We seek such a Commission because concentration of ownership directly influences the media landscape and influences the news we receive, and do not receive, every day. There is a public interest in media ownership – even if at times my members appear to be those you love


T


to hate.” Congress also supported the union’s demand that the Government honour its commitment to restore the right


of representation and collective bargaining. Currently the Irish Competition Authority views freelance workers as business undertakings and thus ineligible for collective representation by unions.


SURGE INADVERTISING REVENUE REPORTED


n 11.5 per cent surge in TV advertising lifted overall UK advertising


spend in the traditionally weak first quarter to a record £4.7 billion. At £1.2 billion, TV spend recorded its highest Q1 total on record, according to the Warc online advertising service and the


Advertising Association. Warc said the sector had benefited from new revenue streams such as sponsorship, video-on- demand services, advertiser- funded programming and product placement. The report showed


that radio and outdoor


advertising also performed well, but digital ad growth at national news brands at 7.8 per cent was the slowest on record, and spending across the industry fell by 6.8 per cent. Internet advertising as a whole rose by 12.8 per cent to a record £1.9 billion.


he Irish Congress of Trade Union unanimously backed an NUJ call for the establishment of a Commission on the Future of the Media in Ireland. Seamus Dooley, Irish Secretary, proposed a motion at the Congress’s biennial conference. He told

Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28