Mystery surrounds a plan to recruit hundreds of journalists for a new venture which says it aims to become “Scotland’s largest multimedia platform.”
A series of job advertisements have started to appear online for Scottish News, which describes itself as an “exciting dynamic new media brand”.
The adverts state that Scottish News is looking for a chief editor and 300 multimedia journalists to cover every area of Scotland, while the company also wants to recruit 300 full-time and 200 part-time social media content writers and bloggers.
However the National Union of Journalists has expressed scepticism about the venture, saying the plan to recruit 800 journalists “raises suspicions.”
A screenshot from the Scottish News website
The company describes itself on its website as “a dedicated team of people who are passionate about the quality and integrity of news in Scotland and beyond.”
Companies House records show the business as having been incorporated on 29 November and lists 34-year-old John Wyllie the sole director.
Mr Wyllie is listed as a director of 10 other currently active companies including, Paisley Herald Limited, Viral Marketing Solutions Ltd and Way2Market
All 10 companies, together with Scottish News, are registered to an address listed as 9 Glasgow Road, Paisley, where chartered accountants John M. Taylor & Co is based.
When we contacted John M. Taylor & Co a representative from the company said they “didn’t know anything” about Scottish News, but agreed to pass on our request for a comment to Mr Wyllie.
HTFP has also attempted to contact the company via the Contact Us page on its website but we have yet to receive a response.
The advert posted on the Scottish recruitment website S1 Jobs invites applicants to send a copy of their CV and a cover letter to a generic recruitment email address.
It states: “Scottish News is a brand-new media start up with a huge vision to become the UK’s largest multi-media platform. It is essential we find the right people to join us in our venture.
“We are looking to recruit 300 geo-demographic multi media journalists – covering every town, city and island in Scotland – to work on our website and associated services, primarily in text, video and audio.
“You will be expected to write and produce multi-media news, background analysis and features on stories from around Scotland. The post holders will take responsibility for ensuring that all output is of the highest possible standard. As a skilled multi media journalist, you will be an integral part of our growing organisation.”
Dominic Bascombe, organiser of NUJ Scotland, commented: “The NUJ welcomes genuine investment into Scottish journalism. Where there is opportunity for development and growth of new media opportunities we would welcome this.
“However we do share some of the concerns that have been raised over the recently advertised jobs for Scottish News.
“A venture claiming to want over 800 journalists in Scotland raises suspicions. This is a number of jobs far above and beyond even the biggest media players in Scotland and indeed across the UK.
“We would urge anyone considering joining such an unknown venture to ensure that they do proper due diligence in their employment search. The NUJ regularly advises members and students about employment opportunities.”
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Fake news? Hundreds of jobless journos thrown on the scrapheap by the big companies will be hoping that it is not.
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If it’s anything like a news website which tried to recruit my services this week, it will be a terrible let-down.
They offered an article as a trial before we could take things any further.
Having spent almost an entire day researching a US story, finding contacts across the pond, and doing all the stuff that journalists do best, I then submitted 1,000 words together with ‘source notes’ (one of their stipulations) justifying every paragraph.
I was then contacted to say they liked my work, appreciated the research, and wanted to discuss terms for sustained daily freelance work.
The terms? That 1,000 word feature with source notes and international research turned out to be worth… £30. Thirty quid for what amounted to a day’s work!
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Sounds like some American-bascked venture if they want source notes” for every paragraph.
When I was freelancing in Brussels nearly 30 years ago a “free” sheet from the USA asked me to do 4 bits of news every day.
Sounded like easy work as they paid £100 a day – not a bad sum then. But it became a headache and more time was spent trying to prove that my sources were genuine.
After a few months they decided to ignore Brussels. Despite the loss of money from that source I was mightily relieved.
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The picture on that site alone should raise suspicions. I’ve never seen a journalist dressed like that, only advertising staff, wandering around in their 50 quid shirts and giving off the pungent odour of Aqua Di Gio. Meanwhile the journos would still be wearing the pants they used to only keep for weddings and christenings and saving up their coppers for a Costa coffee.
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