Two weekly newspapers and up to 15 full-time roles could be axed in Trinity Mirror’s South Wales operations.
The Neath Guardian and Port Talbot Guardian will print their final editions next Thursday, possibly resulting in three full-time and one part-time role being lost in the Media Wales division.
The news comes in the same week that Trinity Mirror announced it was closing three other weeklies – the Wrexham Chronicle, Mid-Cheshire Chronicle and Whitchurch Herald – resulting in 11 redundancies.
A further 12 redundancies are expected to go as Media Wales reduces the size of its niche and magazine publishing portfolio, including switching the bi-monthly glossy magazine Business in Wales to a quarterly supplement in sister daily the Western Mail.
Two of the full-time roles are commercial positions and the rest of the redundancies would come from editorial – a two-month consultation period is now under way for affected staff.
Media Wales publishing director Alan Edmunds said: “Since the introduction of our multimedia newsroom in April 2008, we have continued to review its progress and to seek new ways of improving the way we work.
“We now believe the time is right, when taking the economic conditions into account, to make further changes to build on what we have achieved.
“It is regrettable that in these tough economic times we are unable to continue publication of the Neath and Port Talbot Guardians.”
Last December it was confirmed that Trinity Mirror was turning seven editors into four among its Celtic Weeklies titles in South Wales.
As a result, the Neath Guardian and Port Talbot Guardian came under the same editor as the Glamorgan Gazette while the Neath office was closed along with centres in Aberdare and Ebbw Vale.
The NUJ has served Media Wales with a legal notice that 123 members based in its Cardiff HQ and district offices will have strike ballot papers sent to them next Thursday.
A Trinity Mirror spokesperson said: “We are disappointed that the NUJ has chosen this course of action which does nothing to address the commercial challenges facing Media Wales.
“However, we are continuing to work with the NUJ and all staff to try to achieve these necessary changes through voluntary means.”
Comments
Relieved of Swansea (25/09/2009 09:48:50)
As a person who was jettisoned earlier this year from the wonderful world of the Welsh media, my sympathies go to the affected staff at the N&PT Guardian, and their colleagues in North Wales. However, it is the best thing that could have happened for me.
The writing is on the wall folks – take the redundancy money and RUN LIKE HELL!!!
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