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Editor roles axed as part of Trinity Mirror restructure

Trinity Mirror logo thumbnailA number of editor roles are being made redundant as part of a major restructure announced last week, HTFP understands.

The publisher announced on Thursday that up to 78 existing roles could be made redundant and 44 new ones created in a group-wide shake-up that will see the introduction of regional print production teams.

With a formal consultation now in progress, TM says it is unable to confirm which individual roles are at risk.

However HTFP understands that the editor roles at the Lincolnshire Echo, Grimsby Telegraph, North Devon Journal, West Briton and Cornishman are among those which are set to disappear.

In addition the editorships of the Staffordshire Newsletter and Leek Post & Times are to be combined into a single role, while the Sunday edition of the Liverpool Echo will no longer have a dedicated editor.

It is not clear at this stage whether any or all of the individuals affected will be leaving the business, as it will be open to them to apply for any of the new roles being created.

However TM has confirmed the departures of two senior editorial executives in its South East division, Marnie Wilson and Mark Miseldine.

Marnie, who is deputy editor-in-chief of Trinity Mirror South East has decided to leave the business after 19 years, while Mark, brands editor of Get Surrey, bows out after 28 years.

Ceri Gould, editor-in-chief of Trinity Mirror South East, said “Marnie leaves with our enormous gratitude and goodwill. She boasts an enviable track record of success in print and digital journalism, building the hugely successful Get Surrey website from scratch as well as maintaining the Surrey Advertiser as the jewel in Trinity Mirror South’s crown. We wish her all the very best with her future projects.”

“Mark has been a stalwart of the Esher and Guildford newsrooms and so many journalists owe him a debt of gratitude for his guidance and support. He has played a vital role in executing our print and digital strategies in the South East. We warmly wish him every success in the future.”

Other changes being introduced as part of the restructure will include the creation of a single county-wide website for Devon, under the Devon Live branding, replacing the existing newspaper companion sites.

Similar changes were introduced last year in Gloucestershire, Cornwall, Somerset, Essex and Kent.

The restructure follows what the company is calling a review of growth opportunities and of its editorial print production practices.

The 44 new roles being created will include 17 specifically focusing on video creation and production.

7 comments

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  • January 24, 2017 at 8:06 am
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    “..an enviable track record of success in print and digital journalism”
    not enviable enough to kleep her job though?
    not sure what message that gives to others in the industry with “enviable track records”
    Already and as predicted by so many,2017 is not a good time to be an editor in the uk regionals with yet more editors being edited out of the picture on the back of the steady stream cleared out in 2016 to concentrate on “other projects” and with a clear move away from print and editing to digital and content overseeing the future of editing a regional paper or papers is not looking good for anyone with “editor ” anywhere in their title.
    as for “..it will be open to them to apply for any of the new roles being created” i wonder how many will be desperate enough to?
    i would assume majority will see it as a happy release

    My very best wishes to those soon to be ex editors

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  • January 24, 2017 at 10:40 am
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    “include 17 specifically focusing on video creation and production”

    So, the headlines scream Trinity Mirror to buy 17 iPhones.

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  • January 24, 2017 at 11:14 am
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    In the history of the human race has any complex endeavour ever succeeded without leadership? Without someone with more experience to lead, rally and coordinate the troops? It’s absolutely barmy, it’s like getting rid of headteachers and having a bunch of NQTs scrambling around trying to figure out what to do next.

    The post of Centurion is being axed by Julius Caesar as part of a major restructure of the Roman army. All legionaries will report to a new ‘head of Tortoise tactics’ based in Devon.

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  • January 24, 2017 at 12:56 pm
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    I’ve know Mark since we did our NCTJ at Highbury College in the early nineties. He’s given his whole career so far to the same organisation and developed dozens of people. His area links and knowledge are second to none (though it’s clear those no longer carry any weight in the TM ‘local’ journalism model) and he understands what a job of this type requires better than any of those involved in this decision ever will. Anyone looking to fill a senior role really should look no further.

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  • January 24, 2017 at 3:01 pm
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    Who IS editing papers nowadays? Probably someone optimistically called a content editor (aka production monkey) at least 20 miles from the action and maybe further. Just when you thought things could not get worse….

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  • January 25, 2017 at 5:58 am
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    When I started my first job as a journalist in 1987 it was with the Leek Post & Times, and in those days I was one of seven reporters plus sports editor, editor (Geoff Browne, who is still a columnist for the paper), deputy editor and chief sub. 30 years on and now it won’t even have an editor of its own. I wouldn’t want to be coming out of journalism training school now with the newspaper industry having been reduced to this.

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