A weekly editor has decided to leave his role after 15 months saying he is no longer enjoying the job.
Matt Cornish, left, became editor of the Newsquest-owned Craven Herald and Pioneer in November 2012, shortly after being made redundant from his previous role at Johnston Press title the Daventry Express.
Now the 37-year-old has decided to move on despite not currently having another staff job to go to.
He told HTFP he was no longer enjoying the job and did not feel able to give it the “total commitment and passion” that it needed.
Said Matt: “I’ve basically decided to go freelance for a while – mainly PR and writing and I’ve got a few things lined up, but journalists have a wide range of skills so I’ll see where it leads really.
“The main reason I’ve decided to go is I’m just not enjoying it anymore. And it’s the kind of demanding job that needs total commitment and passion for the role, otherwise it can be rather stressful.
“I love local news, but I just don’t feel I can continue producing a paper to a standard I can live with anymore without neglecting my young family.
“My wife’s business is also picking up so I’d also like to be in a position where I can be more flexible with the childcare.”
He added: “The Craven Herald is a great paper and hugely respected in the community. It’s also one of the loveliest areas in the country to live so I’m definitely staying in Skipton.
“The team here are also among the best I’ve worked with and genuinely nice people. But I’ve thought long and hard about it all, and I need to go my own way for a bit.”
His resignation comes with Newsquest’s Yorkshire and North East titles embroiled in a dispute with the National Union of Journalists over plans to move up to 25 subbing roles to Newport, South Wales.
The Herald & Pioneer is run from Newsquest’s Bradford centre which was subject to strike action by the NUJ last Tuesday.
Matt took over at the Skipton-based title in November 2012 after his predecessor Adrian Braddy left to edit the Dalesman magazine.
He had lost his previous job in the JP restructure in autumn 2012 which saw the editorship of the Express combined with that of the Northampton Chronicle and Echo.
Prior to that he edited the Town Crier series of weekly newspapers in Cambridgeshire for three years having joined as deputy editor from the Peterborough Evening Telegraph.
He has also previously worked in Gloucestershire and Sussex, where he was brought up and educated before studying at the University of Gloucestershire.
Matt’s job at the Herald & Pioneer is now being advertised on HTFP.
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A real shame – Matt’s one of the good guys. But far too sane to be an editor! Good luck for the future.
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Having escaped JP, I can highly recommend life after local newspapers. Good luck Matt, you’ll surely find a happier route in life.
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Enjoy it? I never recall that being part of the deal. Ha.
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Set up on your own Matt, then you don’t have to implement crazy head office schemes
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Young editor quits with no job to go to.
Story of our times.
Shame he didn’t spill the beans though.
But then Newsquest don’t like its people talking at all so hope he’s got a thick skin for his remaining time
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Can’t blame you. But if we had to ‘enjoy’ our jobs to stay in them many of us would out of work.
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Pieman63 – I suspect you’re failing to see the clear euphemism – ‘not enjoying it’ probably means ‘it’s making me utterly miserable and ill’
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pieman63, I imagine Matt is being diplomatic. Being an editor these days isn’t like it used to be, where you could make your own decisions. I’m sure he doesn’t want to be a “yes man” to a range of megalomaniacal schemes dripped down by those in their ivory towers. He will have endured enough of that at JP, no doubt.
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To quit a job with nothing lined up indicates complete disillusionment, frustration and, to a certain extent, desperation. I think the man is very brave and wish him well.
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It seems that rarely a week goes by without a story like this on HTFP. I can’t say I blame him – I left journalism, a job I loved with all my heart, five years ago to go into PR/marketing. Sadly, the industry I joined 20 years ago just isn’t the same. I miss journalism with every bone in my body but know deep down that if I tried to go back it just wouldn’t be as I remember it. Very sad that nowadays I know my work can have have more impact, I can be more autonomous, I can be better paid and more fulfilled outside the world of journalism
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Oh, and all the best to Matt. Journalism is still well respected in other industries and great to have on your CV when considering a career change.
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My husband quit JP for same reason. Ashamed of the poor quality and pathetic staff levels senior managers accepted but readers didn’t. His paper dropped from an all-time peak of 22,000 to just over 7000 and it was all part of the digital strategy. Pity the desperate souls who have to stick it out, many of them good workers.
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Such a shame that the local newspaper industry has become so depleted and dysfunctional that those with the most talent are throwing in the towel. Every time I hear about a story like this I hope that newspaper owners will finally heed the warnings, though I fear not. Congratulations to Matt on a brave decision, which I’ve no doubt is the right one. Best of luck for life post-journalism, it really can be a lot of fun!
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Being editor of the local paper in a lovely area like this would once have been a job for life and a one to savour. What a crying shame that the enthusiasm is being wrung out of people like Matt.
Wish him well. On the question of whether we are entitled to ‘enjoy’ our jobs in journalism…exactly what other reward should we be looking for? There’s certainly no money in it. The compensation for poor pay and conditions was always that the job was fun.
I often say I had 25 fantastic years in regional journalism…problem is, I was in it for 30 years. The last five years felt like a dwindling band of galley slaves baling out a sinking ship.
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Good luck, Matt, you brave soul!
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Not that many years ago the editorship of the Craven Herald would have been a dream job – a fantastic patch, booming sales, your own office, own reporters, own subs, no interference from HQ.
But I know from those who have suffered first-hand from Newsquest’s ludicrous management stye that this is no more.
And I understand there may be more behind Mr Cornish’s decision to cash in his chips…
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Matt isn’t the first editor to do this – I did the same, just no fanfare. Walked away and don’t regret it one bit. Poor staffing levels, publishing directors deciding on edit policy, abysmal senior management, six/seven day weeks, 12 hour days, oh and the pay!. Only the staff made it bearable. Happier days now.
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Fair play Matt. It’s almost three years to the day since I walked away from JP where I edited a couple of weeklies. Career-wise, it was the best decsion I ever made. I now edit b2b titles and get to travel the world. Oldjournomids is spot on – happier days now.
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I wish I had Matt’s courage. More and more experienced journalists once driven by passion for newspapers are baling on the industry. The long term effects of this should be a real concern to the companies involved before it’s too late. Although, I fear, it already is. . .
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I did it too – one of the early escapees, some six years ago. Similar story to the other editors who left behind the deluge of nonsense from above that destroyed the job. There definitely is life beyond being a regional editor and I’m genuinely grateful that I enjoyed many years of my career in much better times.
The group I was with has since rolled back some of its worse decisions (none of which helped the clunky websites, but half killed the papers and editorial morale). I’ve been tapped up to return in various roles, but have so far avoided the world of excel charts, cutbacks and management speak drivel that has swamped editorships.
Good luck in your new life, Matt.
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The local council has 12 in its PR department while the local paper has three reporters. It used to be the other way about. This change explains quite well what’s happening. The papers are full of PR and pap.
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Such a shame for Matt, but, typical of Newsquest! Glad I got out of this industry…feel for the Craven Herald, such a good local paper, however like many similar newspapers are being destroyed by large, clueless companies. Wishing Matt all the best
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I was a newspaper editor for more than 20 years and a magazine editor for another seven. In 1987, I attended an editors’ conference where an ex-editor turned MD told us that advertising managers would be the industry’s leaders in future. I knew then that it was all over – that the next 30 years would be a downward slide. So it has proved.
Local journalism has been wrecked by very poor management – a bunch of ex ad reps and accounts clerks turned MDs who wouldn’t know a newspaper from a bog roll. Once you accept the principle that editorial doesn’t matter, you are dead in the water.
Plunging circulation figures have proved that I was right. The barrowboys who lead the industry now have wrecked it. There is nothing left but the abyss of failure, declining circulations and nose-diving revenues. I feel sorry for the promising young journalists who have nowhere to go but down. What a tragedy!
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My recent memoir, Hard Pressed, tells of journalism as it used to be. It was unquestionably the greatest profession on earth, a challenging, stimulating job that gave me half a century of pure pleasure.
I feel deeply sorry for all those brilliant young journalists whose careers have been undermined by the management spivs whose only objective is short-term profits for the shareholders, and to hell with editorial standards.
As I wrote in Hard Pressed, you can’t strip down an Aston Martin, instal a Ford Mondeo engine, and expect it to perform at the same level. It won’t happen. Good newspapers need good journalists, not ‘citizen journalist’ wannabes whose only virtue is that they work for nowt.
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I’m just glad I worked in happier times for over 40 years.. Now retired.
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Best time to leave, when you are not enjoying it any more. Life’s too short to spend your working life with the spark missing. Good luck Matt.
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The pay? I thought editors were paid well. Can anyone enlighten me as to how much a regional editor of a weekly and a daily might earn these days?
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About £30k Insider.
Very poor considering the hours you have to put in, the skillset you need and the stress levels.
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A daily ed probably £45k+ I’d imagine.
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Matt shouldn’t worry too much about leaving his job – they would have made him redundant soon anyway.
As for having “total commitment and passion”, Matt’s boss at the Bradford Telegraph and Argus probably has that, and his crummy paper is losing over 2,000 sales a year because it’s full of boring rubbish.
Anyone who feels they need to make the production of a local newspaper the most important thing in their life (above their family, for Heaven’s sake!) needs their head testing.
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Those rates sound about right. I earned £16k managing a team of 10 weekly newspaper subs across two counties a decade ago. I was then earning £25k a year when I left journalism five years ago and was a senior editor on a daily regional newspaper managing a team of six. Outside journalism I now manage two staff, earn £46k a year, have a final salary pension, regular appraisals, flexible working hours and great training. I do work long hours and earn every penny of that salary but I feel I am making a difference and that my hard work is appreciated.
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I was Matt’s predecessor-but-one at the Craven Herald. After three years in the job, during which we were shortlisted twice for Yorkshire Weekly of the Year (greeted with indifference by Newsquest), I quit because of exhaustion and despair caused by trying to produce decent newspapers despite rapidly depleting resources and a management that didn’t care about its journalism, its readers, its advertisers and particularly its staff. Fortunately, I was 62 and could take early retirement, though with a reduced pension of course. It has been worth the financial hit. I feel for Matt and wish him all the best out of Newsquest. He will not regret his decision. I also feel for the remaining dedicated staff at Skipton, who deserve better from their managing director.
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I can see why Matt doesn’t enjoy his job, if it’s anything like a de facto senior reporter’s lot.
Unlike most, I’m not a natural on the news gathering front and had to work hard to improve. Five years on and I’m not sure why I bothered.
My wages would be insulting to a school leaver, and having been turned down for more senior roles at bigger papers in my group, I suspect there is no real chance to progress beyond my Dances with Wolves-like posting.
There’s no real incentive to do anything other than “filling up the queue” with copy. In fact, looking for a reason to excel is like Jacques Cousteau trying to find a dry spot in the ocean.
Anyway, best of luck to Matt in his future endeavours,
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At 61, I chose to walk away from regional press journalism after a career spanning 44 years.
Nothing that has happened over the ensuing year has done anything other than vindicate my decision to give up a profession I once loved.
I may not be rolling in cash (indeed, I never was whilst working), but at least I’ve escaped with my sanity.
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The world of media has changed. Outlets are shrinking fast and specialist writers are more in demand than generalists. Everything is moving towards the digital world. Peter Greenwood’s comments seem tragically embittered and sour in a brave new world he has failed to embrace. Not enough grey cells perhaps. I write from Skipton, home of the Craven Herald.
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