Up to 70 jobs are set to be made redundant by a newspaper publisher – but the company says regional journalists will not be affected by the plans.
Reach plc has announced the cull in a bid to “remove duplication” at its national titles following its purchase of the Express and Star titles earlier this year.
A total of 70 full-time and part-time positions are at risk, and a consultation with staff affected by the proposed changes has begun.
But the company says no jobs at its regional titles under threat as a result of the plans, which will also see some editorial long-term casual roles will be converted into staff positions.
A bid to introduce more collaborative working between the Daily and Sunday Express and between the Daily Star and Daily Star Sunday editorial teams also forms part of the proposal.
A spokesman for Reach said: “Our [national] sports desks have been collaborating very effectively in recent weeks, which gives us confidence that our plans to share other content will work well. The crossover readership between the titles is very low.
“The aim is to retain as much resource as possible in areas such as politics, exclusive story-breaking, investigations and columnists, which differentiate each of our titles and give them their distinctive character.
“We will be making every effort to achieve as much of the required savings as we can through voluntary means.”
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‘Regional journalists not at risk despite plan to axe 70 jobs’ – that’s because they had a huge bleeding at the start of the year and regional newsrooms are now down to the bare bones.
But that said, I wouldn’t hold your breath – give it another six months (maybe even less) and management will find some way to axe more essential staff (whilst saving their own jobs).
The self-immolation/destruction of regional titles continues, in this project without a plan.
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Define regional. The Scottish office of the Express got told last night it’s losing six jobs as part of the merger, with the expectation the Daily Record and Sunday Mail will also be hit again this time round. Technically they might be classed as nationals by Reach, but the impact is decidedly local.
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Sorry to say it sounds a bit like the one where the chairman of a football club says he has every confidence in the manager before going back into the offices to kick him out couple of days later.
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Already preparing my mattress for when the inevitable fall comes.
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