news
Thousands of redundancies become a stark reality
THE NUJ is dealing with thousands of redundancies across the media industry as announced cuts reach the end of their consultative process. It is the biggest round of cuts faced at one time as news organisations have triggered job losses to deal with the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. More cuts are thought likely at groups that have not yet outlined job losses such as News UK. Union officials have been
working to get the best deals in voluntary and compulsory redundancies and are challenging job losses with legal action where possible. The cuts are being made as
the Government’s furlough scheme comes to an end on October 31. Government
support will continue for some small and medium- sized businesses that face lower demand in the winter under the Job Support Scheme which starts for six months on November 1. The BBC has made the
biggest number of cuts at more than 1100 across its operations. Voluntary redundancies at the corporation have been oversubscribed and some high-profile names are leaving the airwaves including
Carrie Gracie, the former China editor who with the NUJ campaigned for gender pay parity, and Simon Gompertz, the personal finance correspondent. In newspapers, Reach is making 550 job cuts; the Guardian 180; the London Evening Standard 69 editorial jobs out of 115 redundancies; the Daily Mail Group 100; Newsquest about 40 journalists’ jobs. Other cuts are being implemented at Dennis Publishing; Emap; Haymarket; Bauer; Conde Nast; and Harper Collins among others. The NUJ launched its News
Recovery Plan early on as the pandemic began to hit news organisations with advertising disappearing and print sales falling sharply.
Pressure over public planning notices
THE NUJ has joined calls from the News Media Association (NMA) for the Government to re-think proposed legislation which would scrap the requirement for public notices to be published in local papers. The NMA has calculated that the
obligation on local authorities to place statutory planning notices in local newspapers is worth about £10 million each year to the industry. The NUJ fears that as the coronavirus is putting further pressure on an industry already in crisis, this loss of revenue would
RIP Sir Harry Evans, an NUJ supporter
SIR HARRY EVANS, one of the most admired newspaper editors, has died aged 92. The former Sunday Times
editor was a supporter of the NUJ although he stopped being a member when he moved to a managerial position. He wrote of his enthusiasm for the union in his autobiography My Paper Chase. Three years ago, he was honoured at an event celebrating his life and work at the NUJ’s headquarters.
His greatest successes were in the 1970s when the Sunday Times broke a number of key stories including the devastating impact of thalidomide on unborn children and the exposure of the double agent Kim Philby.
come at a very difficult time. The NUJ is also concerned that the
proposals, which are part of the Planning for the Future White Paper, could be a way of bypassing local people and their right to be consulted on changes to their environment.
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The BBC has made the biggest number of cuts at more than 1100 across its operations. Voluntary redundancies at the corporation have been oversubscribed
inbrief...
REACH SEES DIGITAL REVENUE RECOVERY Reach, which publishes the Mirror and Express and many regional titles, said that digital revenues have begun to recover from the effects of the coronavirus, climbing 13 per cent year-on-year in the third quarter of this year. Total revenue fell by 15 per cent year on year and print fell by 20 per cent.
SOBANDE IS CLAUDIA JONES LECTURER Francesca Sobande, a lecturer in digital media studies at the School of Journalism, Media and Culture at Cardiff University, will give this year’s Claudia Jones lecture. She will focus on ‘the digital lives of black women in Britain’ in the lecture which will be recorded later in October.
POSTAGE ERROR ON REDUNDANCY MAIL Guardian staff waiting to hear about their individual terms for voluntary redundancy were told that they hadn’t received letters because insufficient postage was paid. They were emailed instead after a wait and the deadline for voluntary redundancy was extended to October 19.
Google hands out
$1 billionto news groups Google is to give news organisations
around the world $1 billion over the next three years and allow them editorial independence about content that is
promoted on Google’s platforms. It will also allow them flexibility over the
format of the story spaces it allocates. The initiative called the Google News Showcase comes amid pressure
for a tax on the tech giants to help traditional media badly hit by the coronavirus fallout.
theJournalist | 03
REUTERS / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO
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