A regional publisher has revealed that hundreds of its journalists are receiving bonuses as a result of a page view target scheme it launched.

Newsquest says an average of around 200 of its reporters each quarter have been given additions to their pay packet over the past two years after introducing the scheme.

The company has revealed the figure after rival publisher Reach plc launched its own page view target plan for reporters, as revealed yesterday on HTFP.

Reach has so far declined to comment further on its scheme and it is unclear from the documents which HTFP has seen whether its proposals include any financial incentives for journalists.

Under the Newsquest ‘Page Views Incentive Scheme’, journalists working on daily titles who generate more than 500,000 page views per month on average each quarter are eligible for bonuses.

The minimum figure is 325,000 for reporters on weeklies, although some journalists working on smaller weeklies are given bespoke targets.

Reporters can receive 2.5pc, 5pc, 7.5pc or 10pc overall of their salary depending on which target they hit.

So for instance a reporter earning £25k who hit 1m page views as an average each month would get an overall bonus of £2,500,  split into £625 per quarter.

The structure of the scheme, which was first introduced in 2020, is as follows:

Dailies

• Journalists who achieve more than 500,000 page views per month on average each quarter will receive one quarter of 5pc of their salary
• Journalists who achieve more than 750,000 page views per month on average each quarter will receive one quarter of 7.5pc of their salary
• Daily journalists who achieve more than one million page views per month on average each quarter will receive one quarter of 10pc of their salary

Weeklies

• Journalists who achieve more than 325,000 page views per month on average each quarter will receive one quarter of 2.5pc of their salary
• Journalists who achieve more than 500,000 page views per month on average each quarter will receive one quarter of 5pc of their salary
• Journalists who achieve more than 750,000 page views per month on average each quarter will receive one quarter of 7.5pc of their salary
• Journalists who achieve more than one million page views per month on average each quarter will receive one quarter of 10pc of their salary

BBC local democracy reporters and those employed under the Facebook Community News Project at Newsquest newsrooms are also eligible for bonuses.

The minimum threshold for Facebook reporters is 325,000 page views per month, while it is 250,000 for local democracy reporters.

Newsquest says journalists who do not hit the targets receive mentoring and coaching, while bonuses can still be awarded to those coming close to achieving their quarterly goals at the discretion of local editors and managing directors.

Yesterday HTFP revealed the launch of Reach’s page view target plan, entitled Accelerated Personal Development, which the publisher says is “not designed to be punitive”.

Newsquest editorial director Toby Granville, pictured, posted on Twitter in response: “Interesting that Reach has copied our very successful individual page view targets strategy for reporters.

“The only difference seems to be we offer a cash bonus of up to 10pc salary at Newsquest if reporters hit them and Reach offers its reporters nothing.”