Comments on: Northcliffe to axe freelance roles in local site restructure

By: Andrew Lincoln

Andrew Lincoln — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 09:27:58 +0000

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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By: Anon

Anon — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 15:08:48 +0000

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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By: Scoop

Scoop — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 12:38:17 +0000

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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By: DAVE

DAVE — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 10:46:47 +0000

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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By: counter

counter — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 10:26:34 +0000

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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By: Down South

Down South — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 09:30:15 +0000

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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By: DAVE

DAVE — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 08:48:49 +0000

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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By: House Rules

House Rules — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 16:03:34 +0000

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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By: Freddie

Freddie — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 16:01:36 +0000

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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By: Smoker

Smoker — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 15:36:43 +0000

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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By: Oliver

Oliver — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 15:28:04 +0000

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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By: Milli Tant

Milli Tant — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 15:04:38 +0000

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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By: DAVE

DAVE — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 14:42:26 +0000

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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By: Spanner

Spanner — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 14:31:01 +0000

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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