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Sales of local titles could follow £24m i deal, signals Johnston Press

Johnston Press logoJohnston Press has delivered a fresh signal that it may sell off some of its 200-plus local and regional titles in the wake of its £24m purchase of cut-price national newspaper the i.

Last month the regional publisher announced it had identified a series of assets for potential sales following a “portfolio review.”

JP launched a process to explore the sale of these assets to “interested parties,” and the company has now revealed that it is “encouraged” by the response.

The revelation was contained within the detailed announcement of Friday’s £24m purchase of cut-price national newspaper the i from Evgeny Lebedev’s ESI Media and suggests further deals are in the offing.

It said:  “The company announced on 19 January 2016 that, as part of the group’s portfolio review, a number of brands have been identified that are not part of its long-term future, as they fall outside its selected markets, or do not match the audience focus, or do not offer the levels of digital growth sought by the group.

“A process was initiated to explore the sale of these assets to identified parties, and the directors are encouraged by the responses received.”

Friday’s detailed statement also set out details of JP how it plans to run its new acquisition.

It revealed that high-quality content from its existing regional newspapers could be re-used in the i, alongside content from Mr Lebedev’s existing stable provided under the terms of a three-year “super syndication” deal.

The statement also revealed that i editor Oliver Duff would be staying on in the role under the new ownership.

And although Oliver will be nominally answerable to JP’s editor-in-chief Jeremy Clifford, it made clear the i’s editorial independence would be maintained under the terms of the deal.

The i currently has a dedicated staff of 25, 17 of which are editorial, all of whom will transfer to JP.

Oliver has since tweeted that this will be increased to 51 editorial staff, with many of the additional 34 roles expected to go to journalists being made redundant as a result of The Independent’s closure.

The JP statement read: “The 25 i staff, working mostly in editorial, will transfer by law to Johnston Press, subject to consultation under TUPE, and will initially remain in a dedicated central London office.

“It is intended that the i team would be working on Johnston Press’ core enterprise systems remotely as is consistent with the current arrangements within the group. The editor of i, Oliver Duff, will also remain with the title.

“The head office functions, such as information technology, human resources, finance, logistics and marketing, will be provided by Johnston Press to maximise the potential cost synergies.

“i will also retain editorial control over the content of its title independent of Johnston Press.

“Johnston Press has also entered into a three-year rolling content supply agreement with the vendor, forming the basis of much of the content for the title.

“In addition, i will be able to access content created by the Johnston Press titles.

“Primary content sources for i would include the independent.co.uk staff; feeds from London Evening Standard; newly created i-only reporting staff and other content from third parties.

“The company will seek to ensure that the group only takes content that it judges to be of high quality and is consistent with the positioning of i.”

Oliver has welcomed the deal saying JP is “ideally placed” to help continue the i’s development.

“Since launching five years ago, i has been an insurgent force in the national quality newspaper market, defying sceptics and overtaking established rivals through innovation and bold, independent journalism,” he said.

“Ownership by Johnston Press will propel i into the next exciting chapter in its short history. JP’s heritage, national network of journalists, retail clout and commitment to digital development mean the group is ideally placed to continue i’s circulation and revenue growth.

“i is already a punchy, trusted digest that cuts through the noise of daily life. Our readers around the UK subscribe to its ethos of brevity, quality and impartiality. Yet many more people are short on time and hungry for knowledge. With JP’s help, we can reach this untapped audience – and build on a British media success story.”

29 comments

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  • February 12, 2016 at 2:54 pm
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    Staff on i shouldn’t bank on material titles- budgets / staff on flagship titles have been decimated. They will be looking for copy from i to fill their pages – will this syndication work both ways?

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  • February 12, 2016 at 3:59 pm
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    So :
    Poverty stricken JP have just spent £24m
    They have bought a print product but not the digital assets
    They have left behind the now closed newspapers that underpinned the content
    They are going to use JP content to plug the gaps
    They have spent the last God knows how many years running down print and they now own a national newspaper.
    OMG !

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  • February 12, 2016 at 4:13 pm
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    And obviously hacks working on JP’s regional titles having their copy thrown at the i will be paid national newspaper salaries as well, won’t they Ashley?

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  • February 12, 2016 at 4:32 pm
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    Johnston Press and high quality are contradictions in terms.

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  • February 12, 2016 at 4:55 pm
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    “High-quality content from Johnston Press’s regional newspapers could be re-used in its newly-acquired national daily the i.”

    Run that past me again, Ashley old cap . . .

    The knackers of the newspaper industry don’t have any high quality content. That is the overriding reason mst JP papers are showing massive declines in sales.

    God help the poor sods on the i. I’d urge them to get out any way they can.

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  • February 12, 2016 at 4:57 pm
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    Sounds like a total mess. I give it a year.

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  • February 12, 2016 at 7:16 pm
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    Actually Harry, there is a lot of quality still in the JP titles. I don’t work for them but I do read them. Yes, they aren’t what they used to be, but don’t go around demeaning journalists when they work hard.

    If you really are the ex-editor of the Hartlepool Mail, you’d surely know that.

    Bitter much mate?

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  • February 12, 2016 at 7:27 pm
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    Oliver said: ““Ownership by Johnston Press will propel i into the next exciting chapter in its short history.”
    How exciting!
    Yes, ownership by Johnston Press will mean shut-down offices, low morale, staff cuts and an uncertain future. Very sorry, i journalists, better start looking elsewhere rather than stay with a group that’s going downhill rapidly, both in terms of credibility and financial status.

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  • February 15, 2016 at 9:41 am
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    Adam. Am I the ex-editor of the Mail? Yes. Unlike you I’m happy to be judged personally for my comments so I use my name.

    Bitter? Why would I be bitter?

    I’m certain I see more JP papers than you. I judge them on my 30+ years in journalism. Most are so bad it’s embarrassing. I don’t blame the journalists working for JP. Give Lewis Hamilton a Ford Focus and he’d be useless.

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  • February 15, 2016 at 9:50 am
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    Is the story here that JP may sell off its stable of locals solely to run the i? That may give some outfits the chance to buy out their local businesses to try to make a go of them independently, though for others it will spell the end. The meltdown continues.

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  • February 15, 2016 at 9:55 am
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    For a company so determined to run local papers into the ground for its ‘digital-is-the-only-way’ ethos, JP has spent a lot of money on a national print product it is about to fill with regional copy. That’s going to work well then. Not. Keep at it JP – proper local newspapers who actually give a damn about their community and listen to their preferences are delighted that you’re about to implode. Brilliant strategy – for those of us in opposition.

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  • February 15, 2016 at 10:16 am
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    Please sell us Ashley. It would be the best thing for our local newspapers as you clearly have no intention in investing in editorial staff or offices

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  • February 15, 2016 at 10:45 am
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    Please please SELL. NOTHING could be worse than JP!

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  • February 15, 2016 at 11:07 am
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    I’m considering a buy out for the whole of JP. So far I’ve raised 20p. Another 30p and I think I’ll have enough. Who’s in?

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  • February 15, 2016 at 11:08 am
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    Harry! Cuh!! I drive a Focus!! Can get a lick out of it!
    OK, its not what I used to drive, but I’m a regional journalist so have to trade down each time I need to change the motor: The previous one had to last 13 years.
    Which is longer than the new ‘i’ will last!

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  • February 15, 2016 at 12:16 pm
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    Can I start a catchphrase? ABJP
    ANYONE BUT JOHNSTON PRESS

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  • February 15, 2016 at 12:25 pm
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    No-one doubts that local journos do their best on JP. But the papers I see are full of sloppy mistakes, awful pictures and lack of basic local knowledge. I would give you some classic examples but I do not think it is fair to the hard-pressed staff who do their best under very trying conditions, often many miles from the place they are writing about. So give them a break and save the brickbats for the likes of Ashers.

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  • February 15, 2016 at 1:04 pm
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    So, having made an absolute mess of hundreds of local papers (an destroyed so many lives) JP may flog them off. They flailed on regardless, wouldn’t heed the people who knew, hundreds are out of jobs, circulations have plummeted, websites have failed and now they’re going ‘national’. What next? God only knows, for JP, sure as hell, haven’t a clue.

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  • February 15, 2016 at 4:06 pm
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    is that JP as in Joke Publishers?
    It must be nerve wracking working for this outfit and I wish them all well.

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  • February 15, 2016 at 6:00 pm
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    JP have treated so many people with utter contempt. They should be utterly ashamed of the wreckage they have left in their wake through their arrogance and refusal to listen and change their destructive policies. But ‘shame’ does not figure in their vocabulary.

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  • February 15, 2016 at 7:31 pm
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    Perhaps in this case the i should stand for i don`t think so!

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  • February 17, 2016 at 12:28 pm
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    @sad
    the same could be said of any of the once “big four ” regional press groups in recent years,this and being arrogant and complacent in the face of new media and emerging competiton is why the industry is in rapid decline.
    its also why almost no one leaving RP has a good word to say about their ex employers,thus fuelling the fires and filling the ad revenue accounts of their new media competitors

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  • February 17, 2016 at 5:28 pm
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    Guess Jp have run out of people to cut, so are now buying titles to make this possible?

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  • February 17, 2016 at 8:56 pm
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    I wonder how much the JP local press ’empire’ will fetch. One simply has to recall the Tim Bowdler ‘I Buy Anything’ era which help plummet the company into impossible debt.

    Now we have the digital era which has finished the job. But hey, Ashley has discovered £24m under the mattress to rekindle the print era! What next…?

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