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NUJ calls for halt to Newsquest takeover of island weekly

National Union of Journalists members at an island weekly have come out in opposition to its proposed takeover by regional publishing giant Newsquest.

The Board of the Isle of Wight County Press group is urging its shareholders to agree its proposed sale to Newsquest, although a local business leader this week called for a delay to allow time for a local bid to be put together.

Now the NUJ chapel at the County Press has declared its opposition to the deal “in the strongest possible terms.”

It is not clear how many members the chapel has, or what proportion of the County Press’s editorial staff are NUJ members.

Isle of Wight front

In a statement issued today, the chapel says it fears the takeover will lead to loss of indpendence and jobs.

It said: “We feel it is only right to raise our concerns before any decision is taken. We oppose in the strongest possible terms the sale of the CP to Newsquest.

“Take a look at the fate of newspapers taken over by Newsquest, and you will see sweeping job losses and a huge drop in quality.

“We fear the same fate will befall the CP. Dedicated, hard working and loyal staff will lose their jobs, and the breadth of detailed, well researched news articles, sports coverage, features and community news will be diminished enormously.

“The people of the Island deserve a quality newspaper. We take huge pride in working for the CP, and we all live and work in the community.

“We appreciate why the board has recommended that shareholders accept this offer, but Newsquest’s pledges to invest in the paper will mean nothing once the deal has been signed.

“Should shareholders vote for the sale, we are imploring them to give us three months’ grace before any deal is signed, enabling us to work with the existing management to develop a business plan and a long term strategy for the CP .

“The CP has been locally owned since it was founded in 1884. It is a community paper in the truest sense of the word. Let’s not throw that away.”

As reported by HTFP this week, Norman Arnold, the chair of the island’s development board, has written to the paper’s management asking for a two-month delay while a local bid is developed.

Mr Arnold says the County Press was an “island institution” and should stay locally owned.

County Press Group chief executive Robin Freeman has previously said: “The board of the IWCP Group strongly believe that this is the best way forward for our group of companies. Newsquest are a very well-respected and highly professional group and I very much hope that the next chapter of the CP’s life will be as part of their group.”

Newsquest has so far declined to comment on the NUJ’s statement.

6 comments

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  • July 6, 2017 at 12:02 pm
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    Of course the NUJ is right. The board are thinking exclusively in terms of the bottom line – shareholder value – and winking at what they must know is the truth of the matter. In short, they just don’t care, once they’ve got NQ’s cash in their pockets. Because of the growing publicity, NQ’s pledges may last a little longer – perhaps a couple of years – until the fuss dies down, and then the axe will fall.

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  • July 6, 2017 at 4:26 pm
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    Heartened to see that the CP’s employees are wary of Newsquest.

    Quite apart from Newsquest policy to often shed staff, stretch resources etc., the one inescapable fact is that if you compare a NQ paper with the level of quality it had, say, ten years ago there is a marked difference now. Some papers have also been closed.
    Lot less staff, remote out of district subbing etc etc, and most of all, space taken up with a lot more pix spreads from rather mundane district events rather than filling the paper closer to the brim with more news item and features which used to encourage better sales. The papers have less news content. A spreading rot sets in leading to more cut-backs, worse quality content and frothy rhubarb puff-pieces to suit advertisers in adjacent page spaces. More ad features. Also lots of clumsy errors. A study nationally will show that the above is usually the horrid truth.
    It’s sadly understandable that the current owners are tempted to pocket the sale money and sit back and feel a bit sad as they tolerate the drop in quality. Let’s hope a better sort or buy-out can be arranged.

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  • July 7, 2017 at 3:56 pm
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    If I were a shareholder, I’d take my money and run. Maybe they would be happier to let someone else chop the staff rather than on their watch.
    That being said, I picked up a copy recently, only 90p and it was a thick paper, very good value. So hope all stays the same if they want to retain readers.

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  • July 8, 2017 at 1:50 pm
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    As a regular visitor to the Isle of the Wight, I always make sure to pick up a copy of the IWCP and it is a quality product in every sense.

    I am in no doubt that its staff photographers, in-depth reports of court and council matters and emphasis on genuinely local content would be lost under Newsquest’s ownership.

    At a time when the major publishers are locked in a race to the bottom – producing bargain-basement clickbait and trying to sell their lightweight, identikit content as a bold new approach for the digital age – we should be pushing for more titles to operate outside their influence.

    My thoughts are with the County Press team at what must surely be an uncertain time – no doubt fears of redundancy loom large – and I sincerely hope that the Newsquest offer is kicked back across the Solent sharpish.

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  • July 12, 2017 at 5:43 pm
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    And now the takeover has been agreed – talk about cherry-picking. One wonders whether by the time of the next Island Games the County Press will be in a position to send a reporter to Gibraltar.

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