Journalists who worked for failed weekly newspaper the Birmingham Press will receive payments of just 2p for every pound they are owed, it has been revealed.
The short-lived paper which was set up by newspaper entrepreneur Chris Bullivant collapsed in October 2010, leaving debts of nearly £350,000.
This included more than £37,000 to individual freelance journalists, who were owed up to £9,000 after not being paid.
Now the liquidators have confirmed just £5,125.76 has been raised against agreed creditor claims of £245,955.28 – which equates to around 2p for each pound owed by CJB Media Ltd.
Mr Bullivant withdrew from the Birmingham newspaper war after estate agents in the city decided to return to rival Trinity Mirror-owned publications.
Chris Morley, Northern and Midlands organiser for the National Union of Journalists, was a member of the liquidation committee set up after the collapse of the company and said it was initially feared there would be no payment whatsoever to the journalists.
He said: “At least there’s something that came back. I think there’s 70 creditors and a lot of them were freelance journalists.
“Many of them were people who had been made redundant and were really working hard to make it as freelances and give Chris Bullivant the benefit of the doubt. They carried on doing it even though they weren’t getting paid.
“It is still chicken feed but I think it’s the principle that something at least should come back.”
Mr Bullivant has relinquished his own claim to any dividends from the liquidation, with the company owing him more than £150,000.
Cheque are now understood to be in the post to creditors.
At a creditor’s meeting in November 2010, Mr Bullivant apologised to the freelance journalists who were left unpaid.
Mr Bullivant told HTFP he was preparing a case with his lawyers to present to the Office of Fair Trading about Trinity Mirror’s pricing structure, which he said had led to the paper’s closure.
He said: “At the time of winding up of CJB Media Ltd, I informed creditors of my belief that Trinity Mirror were responsible for the demise of the company because of predatory pricing against our newspapers towards the end of 2010.
“Creditors should be made aware that I continue to prepare our case for an investigation and that I will keep them informed of future developments.
He added: “I was the greatest inputter of cash into the company and I was the one person who took nothing out.”
Trinity Mirror has previously denied engaging in “anti-competitive practices”.
It has not responded to requests for further comment.
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The NUJ should hang its head in shame here. They actively encouraged people to get involved with Bullivant, seeing it as a chance to knock Trinity Mirror hard. Anyone with an ounce of business sense could see that a paper which was relying on one declining advertising sector – property – was going to struggle. As for Bullivant blaming Trinity Mirror, what did he expect them to do? It was a vanity project for Bullivant and the NUJ let its members down. Not for the first time, Chris Morley let his feelings towards his old employer cloud his judgment. If this was any other newspaper offering 2p for every pound owed, it’d be fire and brimstone from the NUJ. Sad, sad times.
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For Chris Morley to try to spin this as some sort of victory – however Pyrrhic – is outrageous. The NUJ has a very poor track record of representing freelancers, and has real problems with trying to understand the business side of journalism.
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I can’t believe Bullivant is still pushing the “predatory pricing” complaint. He tried to undercut TM’s property advertising rates (the method by which he built most of his newspaper empire) and seems surprised that they responded in kind! A ridiculous venture, doomed from the start.
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He got a taste of his own medicine and tried to deflect the attention away from the fact he’d led a bunch of journalists up the garden path. The NUJ turned up at the launch party and kept saying nice things about it, even though just one job was created and everyone else was freelance. Disgraceful
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Let’s be clear here Clem, when The Birmingham Press launched in 2010, Trinity Mirror had axed more than 100 journalists in the West Midlands in the two previous years. Other media employers in the region were also busy sacking journalists so if you believe in pluralism in the media and aiming for the maximum opportunities for journalists to find work, why would you not cautiously welcome the introduction of a new player in the market? The NUJ has many members on Trinity Mirror’s titles in the Midlands but giving it a free hand to keep cutting because no one is putting it under direct competition is a quick way to cut even more jobs. As it happens, during the period the Press was running the cuts at the Post & Mail did pause, only to resume once it was safely out of the way. And as for Neil’s claim, I think the fact that I got involved in the liquidation committee and stayed throughout the two year process to make sure on principle that something was extracted from nothing shows the NUJ does not walk away from its freelance members. And Lunch you seem to be saying freelance journalists don’t count as much as staff. To the NUJ all our members, staff or freelance, are important.
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