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Northern journalists face swath of job cuts


Journalists in the north of England have been hit with a series of job cuts with some concerned that health and safety at work is being jeopardised. The cuts have hit: Newsquest’s Northern Echo and the sister titles of the Darlington & Stockton Times, Durham Times and Advertiser series; Reach titles the Manchester Evening News (MEN) and the Huddersfield Daily Examiner; and Cumbrian Newspapers, which was bought by Newsquest a few months ago. There is also uncertainty over where reporters at the Barrow-in-Furness Mail will be working. Management at


Newsquest’s Northern Echo, which faces the loss of eight posts, had already been warned by staff that the situation in editorial was at crisis point. The latest cuts, plus a failure to fill a


vacancy, represent one fifth of the staff who produce the flagship Northern Echo and Darlington & Stockton Times, and the Durham Times and Advertiser Series.


The letter, sent on 12 July from the NUJ chapel, said: “We are currently seeking advice as to whether there has been any breach by the company of the working time regulations or on health and safety grounds.” The letter was triggered by


the management’s decision to stop freelance cover. Individuals have been known


to start the 9am shift at 5.20am to get all the necessary tasks done to deadline. The union is fighting 15


compulsory redundancies following a merger of journalist roles at the MEN and Huddersfield Daily Examiner, as part of Reach’s strategy of separating its print and digital operations. The management


said that posts would be created, including for video and football writers at the MEN, which would result in a ‘marginal increase’, but the chapel said this included vacant posts. The NUJ is calling on Newsquest management to make clear their intentions for The Mail at Barrow-in-Furness after the company told staff it wanted to shift its reporters more than 30 miles away to Kendal.


Social media displaces real news, say MPs


The amount of online disinformation is so big that it is beginning to crowd out real news, the Commons Digital, Culture, Media & Sport Committee has said. The MPs warned that this


threatened democracy and called for tougher social


network regulation. The government said it planned to introduce a requirement for electoral adverts to have a ‘digital imprint’. This would mean that all


political communications carried online would need to


identify clearly who had published them. Labour said the government “needs to wake up to the new challenges we face and finally update electoral laws”. The report follows the


Cambridge Analytica data scandal earlier this year. The


data analytics firm and Facebook were at the centre of a dispute over the collection and use of personal data – and whether it was used to influence the outcomes of the US 2016 presidential election or the UK Brexit referendum.


Haggerty quits Sunday Herald


Angela Haggerty, the Sunday Herald news editor, who was previously sacked by the paper in a row over Rangers Football Club, has resigned because of online ‘threats and abuse’. She said she had dealt with online abuse over


six years, but added: “It really took a toll on my health last year. I need to take a step back from the intensity of that, at least for a while.” Haggerty is to continue writing her weekly


columns for the Sunday Herald and Herald newspapers despite quitting the newsroom. Haggerty, who joined the Sunday Herald in


2013, said she had been the subject of abuse and online trolling since editing Phil Mac Giolla Bhain’s book Downfall: How Rangers FC Self-destructed, published in 2012.


“


We are seeking advice as to whether there has been any breach of the working time regulations or on health and safety grounds


NUJ Chapel, Northern Echo


inbrief...


GUARDIAN DIGITAL OVERTAKES PRINT Digital revenues have overtaken print for the first time at the Guardian Media Group. In the year to April, the publisher reported digital revenues up by 15 per cent to £108.6 million. Print revenue was £107.5 million, down from £119.6 million in the year before.


NEW EUROPEAN SETS UP PART PAYWALL The New European has put up a partial micro-paywall on its website, charging 10p for premium articles but allowing free access to other content. Readers not yet subscribed to the newspaper must pay £3 into a digital wallet to read content behind the paywall.


BBC’S FIRST GENDER AND IDENTITY CORR The BBC has appointed its first gender and identity reporter as part of its recent expansion of the World Service. Megha Mohan, a senior journalist with BBC Stories, will join a division within the World Service in September covering issues such as LGBT+ experiences, faith and ethnicity.


JOHN NEAL IS NEW MARR SHOW EDITOR John Neal has been made editor of The Andrew Marr Show. He had been acting editor for several months after the previous editor, Rob Burley, became editor of live political programmes. Neal also becomes editor of BBC Newswatch, which deals with viewers’ opinions on news coverage.


SOAPLIFE CLOSES AFTER WEEKLY MOVE Soaplife magazine, which started in 1999, has closed less than six months after becoming a weekly title. Owners TI Media said that sales were not sufficient to ensure viability. Soaplife, which published its last edition in August, went from a monthly to a fortnightly magazine in 2004 before going weekly in February.


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