Twenty-eight jobs are to go in the north east as Trinity Mirror shakes up its regional titles.

Its three Newcastle papers – The Journal, Evening Chronicle and Sunday Sun – will operate in a single, integrated newsroom and a central production unit will be established for all ncjMedia titles.

All journalists – both photographers and reporters – will be trained to produce the full range of multimedia output.

In Teesside, where five of the 28 jobs are to go, the creation of a new multimedia desk, a re-organisation of the management structure and streamlined production processes will also be put in place.

Five district offices in the north-east will also close – Guisborough, Stockton, Redcar, Durham and North Shields – leaving Newcastle, Teesside, Hexham and Bedlington open.

These closures have been brought about by the introduction of new technology and the possibility of more remote working, the company said.

A consultation period started with staff today with Trinity hopeful that no compulsory redundancies will be necessary.

The move echoes a similar shake-up at Trinity Mirror Midlands announced in August.

In a statement, Trinity Mirror said: "These actions have been taken in response to the current challenging trading conditions but also reflect Trinity Mirror's ongoing development as a multi-platform media organisation."

Steve Brown, regional managing director of Trinity Mirror North East, said: "Today we announce a series of proposed measures to ensure that our companies in the North East ride out this economic downturn and best position ourselves for when conditions improve.

"These proposals reflect the senior management team's determination to do the best thing for the business overall and to respond pragmatically to the exceptional economic circumstances that we are now facing."

The cuts were immediately condemned by the National Union of Journalists which claims there are currently an estimated 12 vacant editorial posts across the North East that have not been filled.

NUJ northern organiser Chris Morley said: "Once again we're seeing sacrifices to Sly Bailey's £20m raid on Trinity Mirror's newspapers.

"We are not convinced that all of these cuts could be found through voluntary means and the chapel has already given notice that compulsory redundancies will be resisted.

"However, given the current outlook for the industry the chapel will be looking to work with the company to minimise the impact on journalistic jobs and the titles they produce."

Anthony Vickers, NUJ Father of Chapel at the Evening Gazette, said that his chapel's priority would be to maintain the titles' independence.

He said: "We value the independence of the titles first and foremost and our concerns are not just with the jobs but also our ability to produce the best paper possible and to do the best job that we can do for our community."

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