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Covid 19 cuts begin to bite


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ewspaper groups and the BBC have announced swingeing cuts across the board caused by, they say,


ongoing structural problems in the industry and the effects of Covid-19. Reach – owner of titles including the Mirror, Te Express, Manchester Evening News, Wales Online, OK! magazine, the Bristol Post, Notinghamshire Live and Leicestershire Live – said it was cuting 550 jobs to make £35 million


savings; and would introduce a more centralised structure and close titles. Te union has identified more than 60 proposed job cuts at Newsquest, publisher of the Glasgow Herald, Brighton Argus and Northern Echo, with the axe falling heaviest on sports departments and photographic desks. Te cuts will hurt, since the group already operates on small editorial teams. In Newport in Wales, 23 roles out of a total of 164 employees are to go. Te Guardian is to lose 70 in


Action htps://www.nuj.org.uk/ Link up with local broadcasting and


newspaper chapels and work with them to lobby local and national politicians in support of the industry. News Recovery Plan UK:


htps://www.nuj.org.uk/documents/ from-health-crisis-to-good-news/ & Ireland:


documents/from-health-crisis-to-good- news-ireland/


editorial. Te BBC announced 450 job cuts across England, one in six across the board in TV, radio and online – these are in addition to 150 jobs going in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. A further 270 jobs are to go from News (including 120 announced in January, and paused during lockdown), with more in the pipeline. An NUJ campaign managed to save the regional Sunday Politics shows being


dropped and won a partial reprieve for the regional,


current affairs strand, Inside Out,


which will go from 11 programmes to production of six made by regional hubs; current-affairs programmes will no longer be made in Plymouth, Southampton, Tunbridge Wells, Notingham or Salford. BBC local radio, which has played a major role in bringing communities together during the pandemic with its Make a Difference campaign, will shed 139 staff. Te “simplified” schedule, with three daytime shows instead of four and one host per show will remain. While listening figures may be declining, local radio is oſten a lifeline and friend for older people. While it comes into its own during crises, such as flooding and virus atacks, it’s also, as BBC Radio Humberside’s Andy Comfort said, “there for our listeners every day, rain or shine”. Research firm, Enders Analysis,


forecast that media advertising revenue could fall by almost a third and estimated that 5,000 journalists and dozens of publishers were at risk. Tat is why the NUJ has launched its News Recovery Plan to guide the industry through the crisis with a set of pragmatic strategies and to establish a more diverse, quality, public-interest media. Work has continued to gain support. Te Scotish Conservatives have adopted many of the plan’s proposals following meetings with the Edinburgh Freelance Branch. Scotish National Party MP, Alyn Smith, is to draſt a motion based on the plan to present to his party’s national conference.


CAMPAIGN


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