Up to 14 jobs are under threat at Staffordshire daily The Sentinel as a result of a newsroom restructure announced today.
The Stoke-on-Trent-based title is planning to reorganise its photographic, sport, design and features departments and review its existing Staffordshire Moorlands and Cheshire district editions.
In addition its monthly standalone title the North Staffordshire Magazine is to cease publication immediately.
Sentinel editor Mike Sassi said: “The Sentinel is undertaking a comprehensive review of its business as it attempts to find better ways to serve its readers and advertisers. We hope the planned changes would put us in a better position to achieve future revenue growth and secure sustained profits.”
The changes will also see the subbing and design of weekly titles from Central independent News and Media (CIN) return to Tamworth, where the papers’ reporters, photographers and editor are based.
The CIN titles, which include the Tamworth Herald, have been subbed and designed in The Sentinel’s newsroom since the creation of a subbing hub at Stoke in January 2009.
Gary Phelps, group editor of Central Independent News and Media, said: “The return of all of the subbing of our titles to Tamworth brings our entire news operation under one roof, allowing us to better use the resources at our disposal and ensuring our news gathering and design teams can easily share vital local knowledge.”
Other regional subbing hubs in Nottingham, Hull and Plymouth that were set up by publisher Northcliffe Media around the same time have already been dismantled and their work returned to local centres.
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Funny how all these presumably eloquent editors somehow turn into management-speak Daleks at times like these.
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So JP charge on with ever more centralised subbing and even more standardisation of pages.
Northcliffe try to get back to some semblance of local pages and content for local people.
Who has it right ?
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How long ago was it that we were being told centralised subbing hubs were they key to the brave new world?
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The strong journalistic editors at Northcliffe cleared out quite a while ago. They were the ones that fought their corners and put quality at the head of the agenda. If Mr Sassi is talking about finding ‘better ways to serve its readers and advertisers’ it is clear that the paper’s fortunes in recent years haven’t had this goal in mind, judging by sales performance. And what will more cuts achieve?
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In fairness I think Gary Phelps is saying what any sensible person would agree with.
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As a former deputy editor of the Tamworth Herald (22 years) I agree wholeheartedly with what Gary Phelps has stated. Local knowledge is vital. Incorrect local place names that have occasionally appeared will now be correct. Subbing hubs were a crazy idea anyway, introduced to dispense with any downtime and to get subs working even more like hamsters on wheels. TM, Newsquest, Johnston Press and others take note.
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This conversatiions seems to be ignoring the fact that 14 journalists are set to lose their jobs. I’ve no idea how big the Sentinel is but I’m guessing that’s perhaps a fifth of staff.
Yes, it’s interesting that a couple of subs are moving back to a weekly’s office – but there are another 14 fellow journalists on the dole queue and another of our big dailies has been severely slashed.
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Another day, another set of redundancies. The gloom just keeps on coming. Regular readers could be forgiven for feeling rightfully fearful and depressed.
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The Stoke lot have worked their backsides off for the company and dealt with everything thrown at them in recent years. Once again I’m gutted for them and all my other ex-colleagues in this failing industry (see separate JP stories)
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Does this mean that subs who were made redundant from CIN three years ago can have their jobs back?
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Local knowledge is all very well, Mr Phelps, but I know for a fact, having worked a few CIN shifts at Stoke-on-Trent a few months ago, that it’s not the be all and end all.
Some of the copy I’ve had the displeasure of subbing looks like it’s been written by a bunch of five-year-olds – full of errors, legal problems and generally shoddily written. I’ve subbed stories which have had dozens of facts missing. I called them the Tamworth Doyleys, they were so full of holes.
If I made a query, I invariably got the reply: “We’ll let it go on this occasion.” It seems to me that clumsy copy is “let go” far, far too often.
The subs at Stoke-on-Trent should be applauded for correcting all this week in, week out. If you think that, making them redundant and handing control back to Tamworth is going to help matters, you’re sadly deluded.
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Occasional freelancer, do you think the reason you were occasional is that you don’t even know how to spell doilies?
I must say some of the changes to copy seemed to be for the hell of it adding nothing to the story and often full of errors. That goes for the headlines too.
It’s a simple fact that people based away from an area won’t know the nuances of that area. Stoke subbing was an experiment that failed, albeit that the real move is cost cutting in this ever-decreasing industry.
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I am upset for the subs who are losing their jobs in stoke. I do not agree with using this as a reason to have a go at reporters in Tamworth.
I think the papers there are well produced and that is with the help of both the Stoke and Tamworth centres.
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I’m not convinced that local subs make fewer mistakes than those in hubs. When the Hull hub was dismantled, the Grimsby Telegraph story which hailed the return of its subbing operation stated that the newspaper’s address was Grimsby Road, Cleethorpes, rather than the more obvious Cleethorpes Road, Grimsby. Talk about an own goal! Also, those on here saying that 14 people are being made redundant are wrong. Read the headline. 14 jobs are at risk! The full 14 will only be made redundant if they are all unwilling to accept any roles on offer back in Tamworth. As several of them probably reluctantly made the move in the first place, I’m sure several of them will be more than happy to go back. Although I accept this story is bad news in general, it won’t be for everyone.
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Read the story Oliver. It’s not just subs at risk but features, photographers and sport, all of whom have always been based in Stoke-on-Trent.
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Subbing cuts are very sad but they are inevitable. Cuts to sport, features and photographers are of wider significance. The fat has been trimmed incessantly over the years, they’re now cutting into the bone. Weekly Sentinel soon I imagine, in keeping with Nortchliffe’s nonsensical national approach.
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