Northcliffe Digital is to restructure its network of ‘Local People’ sites with a net loss of around 75 freelance publisher roles.
The company currently employs around 100 community publishers on a freelance basis, each with responsibility for an individual Local People portal.
All the existing community publishers were told yesterday that their contracts would not be renewed after the end of August.
However the company is also creating around 25 new freelance community publisher roles, with each one looking after a number of sites within Northcliffe’s existing local newspaper footprint.
These roles will be focused mainly in the East Midlands, South-East, North-East and South-West and the first 12 have already been advertised on HoldtheFrontPage.
Around 20 Local People sites that fall outside the footprint are to be offered on the open market as franchises at a starting rate of £6,995 + VAT.
It is understood that these include a number of sites in East Anglia that were originally launched in an attempt to expand the company’s sphere of operations.
Those which fail to attract any offers are likely to be closed down.
The company said in a statement: “Northcliffe Digital has conducted a review of Local People sites. From August 2012, dedicated community publishers will be appointed to look after a portfolio of Local People sites that sit within Northcliffe Media’s overall footprint.
“The current publishing structure uses one freelance contractor per site. These contracts will expire in August.
“This approach means Local People will have the benefit of more experienced publishers covering a broader remit and will streamline the running of the business.
“Local People sites that sit outside Northcliffe’s footprint will be made available as franchises. There are no other immediate plans to make changes to the sites.”
One former Northcliffe staffer questioned the timing of the announcement straight after the Jubilee weekend which saw many of the community publishers out and about attending local celebrations.
He said: “Apparently the bigwigs woke up after the bank holiday and, on the spur of the moment, decided on a “restructure” involving getting shot of all the community publishers.
“A cynic might suggest that they had made up their minds some time before but wanted to wring the absolute utmost out of the poor saps running round taking snaps of Jubilee jollifications.
“I suspect many community publishers will feel rather used.”
Today’s announcement represents the first major restructuring of Northcliffe’s digital operation since it was brought back under the direct control of Northcliffe Media in April.
Previously Northcliffe Digital was a standalone business unit headed by former MD Roland Bryan, now running online deals platform Wowcher.
The Local People sites attracted 840,000 unique visitors in May 2012.
They were originally launched in July 2009 and were designed to complement Northcliffe’s existing thisis network of newspaper companion sites by providing a more hyperlocal offering for readers and advertisers.
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Simple cost savings and the first cut of many, there is no real money in local on line, end of !
We are all going to hell in a hand cart !
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The people running this obviously haven’t a clue.
Only a few months ago they were touting all the sites http://franchise.localpeople.co.uk
The ‘new’ jobs are £20,000 pro rata – wonder how many hours they expect from someone covering six patches? OK for students, I guess.
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I’ve had a look at the ads
Employment Type: Full time
Salary: £20,000 pro rata
Hmmmmmm… pro rata salary figures are normally given for part time jobs.
”the Jubilee weekend which saw many of the community publishers out and about attending local celebrations”
– because staffing levels mean Northcliffe newspapers no longer have the permanent staff to do what they used to do a mere 5 years ago. (That and the fact that a bank holiday means OT and/or lieu for the scant remaining staffers – or at least id did in my day!)
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Spanner, if you think there’s no money in it you’re either crazy or a bitter former sub (actually, that may be the same thing). Anyway Dave, if as a freelance reporter, you’d turn your nose up at £20k a year, you don’t live in the real world. I know plenty of senior reporters at good newspapers on less than that and they don’t have the luxury of being able to work from home either. I’m not saying that it all sounds like a dream job and maybe Northcliffe should have taken on proper journalists from the start, but if some of the print journalists being axed left, right and centre at the minute are able to pick up a few digital roles, then that has to be a good thing, doesn’t it?
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The Local People sites never complemented the thisis network. They just made it all the more confusing. When will Northcliffe learn that it’s quality not quantity that counts?
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Oliver
There IS no money in it – why are they asking for a franchise fee. And it’s not £20,000 a year. It’s £20,000 pro rata so it might only be £8,000. Helpfully they haven’t said what the actual salary will be.
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I know someone who did this for a few weeks. Their £20k pro rata turned out to be £500 a month before tax.
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Oliver, it’s £20k PRO RATA. Many of those advertised are the £500 a month by the looks of it. So £6k a year. Before tax.
For instance, there’s one for Grantham AND Stamford, not exactly neighbouring towns (20 miles apart) but the JD says it is “vital that you live in the local area, and are personally familiar with the events, issues and personalities local communities. Please do not apply if you do not live in the area and are not personally familiar with it.”
You will be “engaged by the company to work on Local People on a self-employed basis” and it’s a part-time role. Hardly going to scratch at the surface of the burgeoning postcode news. How much time knocking on doors, chatting up shopkeepers and schmoozing the blues and twos can you fit into a part-time role? Video skills required too!
• Researching and writing news articles and features
• Taking pictures and, ideally, shooting short videos (with a smartphone, for example)
• Coordinating user contributions
• Promoting the site via social media (Twitter, Facebook etc)
• Maintaining high standards of debate on the site
• Working as part of a team on Local People and This Is sites in the area
£500-a-month, Oliver. Pro rata. On your wage, what’s that? A week’s worth a month? To pump prime a hyperlocal site? A day a week? Freelances have overheads too, you know.
Like I say, good for a student and they wouldn’t be stung by tax either.
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Dave and Oliver
Looks obvious that there are some roles which pay more than others.
The more sites you cover, the more money you get.
Seems simple enough.
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How long will it take all publishers to see there is no crock of gold in local news on webs. Just a crock of something else I am afraid….
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Absolutely.
And freelance work is exactly that – no guarantee of a job for life!
It’s horses for courses and if everyone’s happy with their cut then that’s got to be a bonus.
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You may as well set up your own site in an area and do it yourself, as so many people have done, rather than be touched by the toxicity of the ailing regional media. Then it’s all yours, and all the effort goes to you. Any one of hundreds of WordPress templates will do. You learn as you grow. Much, much better and it will be totally unique.
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On Press Gazette they are saying that they “understand that poor advertising revenue could be to blame for the decision.”
You could have the best hyperlocal website in the world with brilliant content and lots of users, but if no-one is successfully selling advertorial space on there is little point in having them in the first place.
There have been lots of examples on HTFP of this being the case whether it’s an ex-journalist setting up the site or a resident.
It will be a case of rearranging the boats on the Titanic if they don’t sort out selling the adverts, you can juggle how editorial is done as much as you like.
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I think this ad tells you pretty much everything you need to know about Northcliffe’s current malaise:
http://jobs.holdthefrontpage.co.uk/display_job/49669/Freelance_Community_Publisher.html
There’s more than 70 miles between Devonport and Tiverton, yet the ad demands, ‘It is also vital that you live in the local area, and are personally familiar with the events, issues and personalities in the local community. Please do not apply if you do not live in the area and are not personally familiar with it.’
Even if such a person existed – which I can’t imagine for one minute one does – the time commitment necessary to come anywhere close to fulfilling the brief would, IMHO, be on a par with the workload undertaken by a junior doctor.
If Northcliffe think they’re going to find someone to undertake this role for somewhere in the region of £500 a month then, frankly, they are living in cloud-cuckoo land and therein lies the problem!
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