news Reach staff to vote over industrial action


THE MIRROR and Reach’s Scottish titles could face industrial action by NUJ members in protest over job losses, unreasonable workloads and the use of artificial intelligence (AI). The NUJ has submitted


formal notice that it was to ballot members on strike action. This comes after Reach, the UK and Ireland’s largest news publisher, warned that 600 journalists could lose their roles or be redeployed. A total of 321 jobs were under threat, in what the union called a ‘devastating body blow’ for journalism. The company plans to set up a national team to cover the UK and Ireland and supply news to the national and regional titles and sites. Mirror staff will be


particularly affected, losing around 40 writers and editors


JESS HURD


– including 10 news reporters and seven picture desk staff Members of the NUJ Mirror chapels decided unanimously to be balloted for strike action. In Scotland, four in 10 journalists at the company are at risk of redundancy. NUJ members at Reach’s Scottish titles, which include the Daily Record, voted decisively in favour of a ballot. Journalists at Reach are hugely concerned by the


workload for remaining staff, as well as the lack of clear commitments on use of AI. The NUJ Reach group chapel has urged the company to disclose how AI is being used and consult on any proposed use of it. Chris Morley, NUJ national


Reach coordinator (pictured), said: “Yet again, morale is being dragged down by the threat of mass redundancies of journalists whose only crime is to work hard and


Redundancies ahead at STV


THE NUJ has condemned STV’s plans to make 60 staff redundant and introduce significant changes to its coverage. STV holds the licence for the


two Channel 3 licences not owned by ITV, which cover


central and north Scotland. It employs around 650 staff, including 90 journalists at its Glasgow headquarters, as well as in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Dundee. In a meeting with management, staff at the


Dame Jilly Cooper


DAME Jilly Cooper, best-selling author and lifelong NUJ member, has sadly died aged 88 after a fall, Christine Buckley writes. She began her journalistic career as a


reporter on the Middlesex Independent. It was then that she joined the NUJ. In an interview with The Journalist in 2011 she said she was very proud of her membership. She went on to write columns for The Sunday Times and the Mail on Sunday. She said the Sunday Times offer had been ‘miraculous’ and on a par with Riders becoming her best-selling book. In her interview with us she said she feared the decline in regional newspapers and despaired of a “world without newspapers”.


Scottish broadcaster were told there would be significant job cuts, with a single 6pm news programme across the two STV licences. At present, STV Central broadcasts from Glasgow, and STV North broadcasts from Aberdeen.


She said: “Newspapers are the guardians of democracy.” Dame Jilly received her damehood for


services to journalism by King Charles last year, the same year Netflix screened their all-star series of Rivals. It very much felt like a revival to her fans. Her agent told the BBC that Dame Jilly was


also well known for writing to many people and keen to keep in touch. I was lucky to be one of those people and we corresponded for the past 15 years after she first wrote to say how much she liked the magazine. We went on to discuss adopting children, being dog-owners and Russian literature. In our interview we asked her how she


would like to be remembered. She said: “That I cheered people up.”


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strive to reach massive audiences with quality journalism each day. “The thought that any media business can afford to shed hundreds of talented journalists to secure its future makes you wonder what sort of future that will be.” The NUJ has asked members to vote ‘yes’ to both strike action and action short of it. It has stressed that all options remain on the table, and ballots seeking views on action may be held. Laura Davison, NUJ


general secretary, said: “These proposals, if carried out in full, will mean the dismissal of experienced and highly professional journalists. “The hollowing out of


newsroom staffing in favour of AI chatter overseen by shrinkingly small staffing is the road to nowhere.”


Nick McGowan-Lowe, NUJ national organiser for Scotland, said: “These are devastating cuts – affecting not just hard-working local journalists but also STV viewers generally, particularly those in the north of Scotland, who will face seeing much- loved local coverage axed.


“These proposed cuts


threaten the high quality of local and national journalism produced by STV News staff in Scotland. We will be meeting with our members and with STV management to discuss the next steps in opposing these cuts and protecting jobs and quality journalism.”


JEFF MORGAN 03 / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO “


The thought that a media business can shed hundreds of journalists to secure its future makes you wonder what sort of future that will be


Chris Morley NUJ national Reach coordinator


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