Union bosses want to work with managers to reduce pressure on journalists at Johnston Press after launching an online survey into stress levels at the company.
The National Union of Journalists says rising and changing workloads, alongside lower staff numbers of staff, are leading to more stress at work for JP’s editorial teams.
Its Johnston Press group chapel launched the confidential online survey yesterday, saying it wants to work with management to alleviate the pressure.
The move comes after the regional publisher announced it was piloting new-look newsrooms at a series of titles in Derbyshire and North Nottinghamshire which could be rolled out across the company.
An NUJ group chapel spokesperson said: “The online survey is totally anonymous and is for all editorial staff in the company – not just NUJ members.
“We’ve all seen several rounds of redundancies in recent years, along with rising workloads and requirements to meet the demands of social media and broadcasting videos.
“There is a lot of anecdotal evidence that this is placing editorial staff under a great deal of stress, but in order to work with the company to alleviate these pressures, we need to gather the hard evidence.”
The group chapel is encouraging all NUJ members who work for the group to complete the survey and share it with colleagues
Laura Davison, NUJ national organiser, added: “We have had examples of members in tears over the changes and pressures they are facing on the front line.
“Now we’re asking people who work for Johnston Press to complete this simple anonymous survey and share their own experiences with the NUJ so we can help.”
A Johnston Press spokeswoman said: “As a responsible employer we take the welfare of our staff extremely seriously and have a wide range of options available to support and advise them. We are also fully committed to ensuring that all of our staff, including our team members who are represented by the NUJ, have a voice and are listened to – which is why we encourage open dialogue and actively seek feedback from our teams on an ongoing basis – both face-to-face and anonymously.
“We have recently undertaken an extensive and well-publicised programme of improvements to ensure all of our teams are working in environments that are fit for purpose and we’re absolutely committed to ensuring our industry continues to thrive despite the challenges all local media faces.”
As a former Johnston Press employee (left at the end of August after 3 years) I can confirm that stress levels are not just high amongst the journalists. I was in one of the sales teams and my workload effectively quadrupled over the 3 years I was there and I by the end of my time there I was earning thousands and thousands LESS that when I started. If excessive workload, poor working conditions and terrible pay are indicators of a company in dire straights, I would say Johnston Press are in DIIIIRRRREEEE straights. Leaving the company has been like a weight lifting off my shoulders. I was suffering from some kind of work based Stockholm Syndrome where every psychological trick in the book was played to keep people under control. Thankless tragic hell conditions. My advise to anyone is GET OUT!!!
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Stress levels are undoubtedly high for all concerned at JP, and it was one of the reasons I took redundancy earlier this year, but I do have one comment to make about bosses/staff.
My original leaving date was the end of March, but something terrible and unavoidable happened in my private life at the start of March which plunged our family into crisis.
There was no obligation for anyone at JP to do anything, but certain steps were taken and my leaving date was put back – in effect I was offered as much time as I needed to sort things out.
Thankfully things are OK now. I left at the start of May but still miss many of the things I did at the paper, and the staff there – and will not forget how they helped us out.
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I once attended a two-part JP stress management course. At least, it would have been two-part; the lecturer went off with stress and the second part was cancelled.
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Staff down, paper sales down there plughole, workload doubled. lot of the best hacks have quit. Any need for survey? And what can JP do about it with a Mickey Mouse share price and heavy debt.
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Would the NUJ care to run a similar exercise at Archant any time soon?
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