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Journalists' jobs to go in latest digital newsroom rollout

Seven jobs are under threat at Trinity Mirror’s titles on Merseyside as a result of the latest rollout of its digital newsroom blueprint.

The Liverpool Echo and its sister publications are set to adopt the ‘Newsroom 3.1′ plan which will see the newsroom reconfigured to support a digital-first publishing strategy, with content then reverse-published into the print titles.

Trinity Mirror has confirmed that seven roles are at risk of redundancy as a result of the changes and a formal consultation period has now begun.

According to the National Union of Journalists, six of the jobs under threat are on the Echo and another at the Wirral News.

A company statement issued today said:   “Trinity Mirror Merseyside and North Wales yesterday announced the move to Newsroom 3.1 – the audience-first newsroom that is now standard across Trinity Mirror’s daily regional publishing operations.

“Newsroom 3.1 focuses all news-gathering resource on liverpoolecho.co.uk and dailypost.co.uk with a smaller, expert print team producing high-quality newspapers from a growing reservoir of digital content.

“These plans will transform the newsroom and will create new roles. However, unfortunately around seven current positions are at risk of redundancy and a period of consultation has begun.”

Newsroom 3.1 has already been rolled out to Trinity’s centres in Newcastle, Cardiff, Birmingham and Manchester.

In some of those centres it led to the creation of a number of new roles and a net gain in jobs overall, but in Birmingham there were two compulsory redundancies.

The union says the plans in Merseyside will create one job for a digital story editor, but will mean the loss of of three subs, two news reporters and one sports journalist on the Echo, and a reporter on the Wirral News.

Chris Morley, NUJ northern and midlands organiser, said: “Our members have known a Newsroom 3.1 restructure was coming, but the announcement has still come as a blow with an apparent substantial net loss of jobs if the plans are carried out as they are.

“This is in contrast to other centres where welcome investments in additional journalists’ jobs were made.

“We will be reminding management that digital output needs quality journalism just as much as newspaper production does if it is to be successful.

“Our members are at full stretch now, so we will be working hard with management to understand how they believe they can do more with less.”

6 comments

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  • October 14, 2014 at 1:59 pm
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    Chris Morley. Sadly, they can more with less by not doing so well. Trinity, JP, Newsquest et al sadly discovered that long ago. That’
    s why their papers are full of press releases and mistakes. Hardly see an originally sourced “dug out” story now.

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  • October 14, 2014 at 2:09 pm
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    You do more with less by not doing it so well, Chris Morley.

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  • October 14, 2014 at 4:04 pm
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    Funny how the bright ideas for a whizzy new future always seem to entail fewer hacks. As a former Trinity toiler who fell victim to a previous cull, you have my sympathies.

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  • October 14, 2014 at 4:56 pm
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    3.1 will see the end of the well-sourced scoop. Also the end of quality photography. There is no place for reporters or photographers now, newsrooms will be full of spottyfaced teenagers out of college who troll social media and press releases for quick content. Rather like buzzfeed. Dreadful idea and any editor rolling over to allow this and getting excited about it at the same time; shame.

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  • October 15, 2014 at 5:00 pm
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    Don’t be too harsh on editors rolling over for these changes. Jobs are scarce in hacking world and people have bills to pay. Directors know that, and can enforce whatever whim they think up. Editors, where they still exist, are emasculated and probably group editors too. Sad but true.

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  • October 15, 2014 at 7:36 pm
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    Great news, you can never have too many Twitter pictures of the sunrise/sunset over the Liver Building.

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