The announcement that the Birmingham Post is to go weekly and the Birmingham Mail is to move to overnight printing has understandably sent shockwaves through the regional press.
It brings to an end what has been a difficult and testing 14 months for this particular division of parent company Trinity Mirror, now known as BPM Media, and also signals the start of a brand new era.
Here we summarise the key developments affecting the company and its staff over that period.
August 2008: Trinity Mirror Midlands announces it is switching to a new editorial structure and Coventry Telegraph editor Alan Kirby is taking early retirement. It means all editorial staff have to reapply for their jobs, with roughly 60 missing out.
November 2008: The company’s move to Fort Dunlop, in the offing since October 2007, is completed, with the papers’ retaining a downtown office for reporters covering court and council.
April 2009: Staff express concern after it is announced that Steve Brown, Trinity’s regional managing director for the Midlands, is leaving as part of a company restructure.
June 2009: The National Union of Journalists claims to have seen internal documents outlining the plans for the two dailies along with proposals to axe eight weeklies.
July 2009: Trinity Mirror reveals its plans to close nine weeklies in the Midlands and merge two more with the loss of 94 jobs, but says nothing about the two dailies.
August 2009: The company announces it has entered a consultation with staff, trade unions and advertisers over the future of the Birmingham Post and Mail. It says nothing is set in stone and that all options are open for debate, but that job losses were inevitable.
August 2009: The following day Birmingham Post editor Marc Reeves sets out his stall and says publicly that, of all the options available to the title, going weekly is probably the best one.
September 2009: Mail editor Steve Dyson hosts a debate on his blog about the future of the title, with local MPs wading into the argument.
October 2009: It’s official. The Post is to go weekly while the Mail is to switch to overnight printing – and both editors decide it is time to move on.
Comments
Reynard (21/10/2009 16:45:02)
Please go back to the start of Sly’s Stabalise,Revitalise,Grow “strategy” followed by the sell off and failed MBO. It has been more like 6 years!
Tally Ho Ho HO
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