Independent publisher Sir Ray Tindle has hit out at the negativity surrounding the regional press industry, insisting it remains “fighting fit.”
In a speech this morning at his company’s management conference, the 87-year-old newspaper magnate voiced his frustration at hearing about “our supposed problems.”
Listing a series of positive facts about the industry, he said that his group had launched 17 new titles since the start of the recession in 2008 and bought 16 more.
He also revealed that Tindle Newspapers has reached an agreement with fellow publisher Johnston Press, in which Sir Ray owns 51m shares, to print some of its titles.
Sir Ray told the conference: “You will not have heard me speak out quite like this before but we are among around 1,000 local newspapers in this country who are getting a little concerned about the comments being made on our supposed problems at the present time.
“In place of some negative, incorrect recent publicity, here are some positive points from this Tindle Newspapers Top Management Conference.”
“We are proud to say that the local press is fighting fit and our heads are well above water. Let me give you a few facts to prove it.”
Sir Ray then went on to list ‘ten facts about local newspapers.’ Here they are in full.
1. During this six year recession Tindle Newspapers has launched 17 new local titles in order to replace lost national revenue, and we have purchased another 16 local titles. More such titles will be launched and, hopefully, more will be purchased. As at February 6th 2014 we are 33 new titles up on the day the recession started, and over 200 up on the day we started the company.
2. During the recession we have confirmed that localisation clearly enhances both local revenue and circulation. We first used this technique to resuscitate the Tenby Observer after its closure had been announced in the Daily Telegraph in March 1978. It has been profitable ever since. It is still in Tindle Newspapers, now under Andy Adamson who has recently launched the Pembroke Dock Observer out of Tenby.
3. During the recession national advertising has fallen but we have increased local revenue generally without increasing advertisement rates. In our South London papers particularly, it has increased by 30% as a result of the new local titles launched by Peter Edwards in Streatham, Brixton, Chingford, Wandsworth, Sydenham, Deptford, Dulwich, Charlton, Wimbledon, Lewisham, Blackheath, Forest Hill and New Cross.
4. During the recession our newspaper profits have, naturally, been hit but Tindle Newspapers Group current year profits will nevertheless double those of last year by the end of next month (March 2014) and the climb-back will continue.
5. During the recession all London titles were particularly badly hit but as a result of our strong actions ours were back in profit before the Christmas break and were in profit again in the month of January. This turnaround has enabled us to give our newspaper staffs an all-round increase of £500 per annum regardless of age or the job they do.
6. During the recession Tindle Newspapers and I have bought 51,000,000 (fifty one million) shares in Johnston Press to make us the largest JP shareholder in the UK. These shares, which carry no liability, have trebled in value since we bought them thus adding to our reserves which are mostly in freehold buildings and cash. These reserves have enabled us to avoid compulsory redundancy among journalists throughout the recession.
7. During the recession and throughout the whole of my 65 unbroken years in local newspapers I have become well aware of how strong and well-established are the newspapers in the local press. Two of ours are over 200 years old, nearly 80 are over 100. This applies even more to those owned by Johnston Press.
We are not on the JP Board and are not therefore involved in that company’s operations or administration but our two companies have already reached an agreement for the printing from next month (March) onwards of substantial numbers of our newspapers.
8. During the recession and, indeed, throughout TNL’s nearly 50 years of existence, we have never borrowed a single penny. We have no intention of doing so now.
9. During the recession we and many other independent local weekly newspapers have weathered the storm in good shape. Our own group of over 200 titles was started best part of half a century ago based on one very small weekly with a circulation of 700 copies. Now,
(a) with the lower costs we are achieving,
(b) with a greater concentration on localness,
(c) with the modest cover prices and advertisement rates we are maintaining,
(d) with increased circulation where local titles have been launched and where paid-for on-line editions have added readers,
(e) and with the marvellous staffs we proudly claim,
We shall continue for many years to come giving a vital service to the local communities of the U.K.
10. Local Newspapers are proud to add that we shall also continue being the most certain and most effective way for advertisers to reach the population of any given town in the United Kingdom.
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Now that is some accomplishment: ‘Johnston Press shares turnaround save redundancies at rival local newspaper group’
Ray T: “I have bought 51,000,000 (fifty one million) shares in Johnston Press to make us the largest JP shareholder in the UK. These shares, which carry no liability, have trebled in value since we bought them thus adding to our reserves which are mostly in freehold buildings and cash. These reserves have enabled us to avoid compulsory redundancy among journalists throughout the recession.”
What a champion!
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He forgot 11….
We have paid awful wages.
Discuss.
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Back to the future !
Local Local Local
Weekly
Low cost base
Debt free
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Oh the irony, that Sir Ray buys JP shares, sees them rise in value – lately on the back of continuing ‘good’ news about reducing headcount, increasing UGC and stratospheric rises in web visits – which secures the future of his own brand whose success is based on principles of localism that JP abandoned long ago.
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Not a single mention of journalism. Just profits, making profits, profitmaking, cash leading to profits, shares giving profits … you get the idea.
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How many of these 17 “new titles” are genuine newspapers as opposed to merely having odd pages changed in existing ones?
How many new jobs have been created?
Pembroke Dock is only a few miles from Tenby. It would be easy under the Tindle management system to simply have the existing staff in Tenby take on the extra extra work (at minimum pay) of covering Pembroke Dock in what are little more than villages.
“The Tenby Observer has been profitable since 1978″. So, how much cash does it generate? We aren’t told because the return for a serious investor would not be worth his capital outlay.
Tindle has the largest share of JP but is not on the board. Why not? What’s really going on there?
A £500 bonus for London staff is peanuts in a city where house price inflation is soaring. What about the bulk of Tindle staff? What sort of rise have they had?
Are these circulations independently audited? Many of the titles are traditionally very small operations. Do they come under the Audit Bureau of Circulations radar? I seem to recall some kind of dispute with the Farnham figures, as reported in HTFP.
“With a greater concentration of localness”. I would have thought Tindle couldn’t get any more mind-numbingly parochial unless the titles start printing names from telephone directories.
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It would be interesting to hear from some of the journalists working for Timdle. I’m he hugely interested how staff are treated compared to those at JP.
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I am a Tindle reporter. For the record my name is Nigel Canham and I work for the Mid-Devon Advertiser Series.
Having seen what Local World has done, and the generally demoralizing effect that’s had on the few staff who were spared the axe, I’m delighted to be where I am.
No corporate bull, just a pride in getting the job done and producing a local paper people can trust.
And yes, we got a modest pay rise.
Are things perfect? No. Am I proud to be part of the group? YES.
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For me growing up in this industry I have always been pleased to see the sight of the Local Paper boys and girls out delivering to there local area.
This is now a sight no more on any Tindle free titles across North London and in to Essex’s as they have all been sacked with door to door handled by a Delivery team.
It’s very well to talk about roots but with zero local input and zero quality of service at the end product stage it’s also very rich indeed!!
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Can I please add that I am not the ‘Observer’ who added the 11th point about ‘awful’ wages. I would have thought that HTFP would not have allowed two people to share the same name as clearly this could lead to confusion. Nigel Canham, Mid-Devon Advertiser.
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Tindle’s new titles are ‘created’ by ordering existing newsrooms, already working extremely hard on existing papers, to produce them. Describing these projects as successful or profitable is sneaky. They are only successful or profitable because they require no extra resource. They are filled by existing staff using existing equipment. Even then, the profits are often negligible.
While there have been no compulsory redundancies, staff who leave Tindle titles are often not replaced, leaving an increasingly small number of reporters, photographers and subs to churn out an increasingly large amount of increasingly sub-standard product.
Challenging or controversial news is banned. Reporters are praised for filling their papers with pictures of jam competitions and tea dances – but told off for reporting on murders, rapes or council corruption.
Some Tindle reporters have had no pay rise for six years and know nothing of any impending £500 raise. If this is true it will be welcome, but will not equate to much of a year-on-year increase when viewed in the context of the past six years.
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Canham, you’re sacked!
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