Journalism.co.uk Editors' Blog » Glasgow

Channel 4 (part 1): Station plans to focus more on regional content

Nigel Brown — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 11:45:00 +0000

Following up on yesterday’s Ofcom round-up, here are further reports from the House of Lords, where Channel 4 chief executive, Andy Duncan spoke at a Communications Committee hearing.

Channel 4 is unlikely to move away from London in a bid to save money, although it is keen to expand its influence around the UK. London was the centre of the UK media industry, Andy Duncan explained to the committee. Savings made from any move were likely to be ‘negligible’ at best.

Although Channel 4 is already active in places such as Glasgow, Duncan admitted the station had relatively little presence in Scotland and other parts of the UK, outside England.

The station’s CEO said that they were adept at creating good quality ‘one-off’ shows. The challenge was to create more opportunities for ‘returning’ series based in the region.

Certain Channel 4 IP, such as ‘Dispatches’ and ‘Cutting Edge’ already allow for the allocation of programming and resources focused in and around the country.

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‘A sad day for Scottish Journalism’: job cuts at Herald&Times and BBC Scotland

Laura Oliver — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 18:23:48 +0000

All staff at Newsquest’s three Glasgow titles, the Herald, Sunday Herald and Evening Times – bar a handful of senior management roles – have been made redundant and told to reapply for their jobs in a move to cut 30-40 posts.

The announcement follows the appointment yesterday of Donald Martin as editor-in-chief across all three titles.

According to a blog post by Shaun Milne, staff have been put on 90-day notice, as part of plans to integrate the three titles. “[T]he titles will adopt a 24/7 approach from a single operation taking in the web, evening, daily and Sunday titles,” writes Milne (in reference to one of the industry’s worst kept secrets this year…)

The announcement comes as BBC Scotland said it would axe 70 jobs, including an expected 20 from news and current affairs – this figure is on top of the 96 redundancies implemented in September, a release from the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) said.

The NUJ chapel at BBC Scotland has sent a letter to controller Ken MacQuarrie protesting against the proposed job losses.

In a release, Pete Wishart MP, SNP Westminster Culture spokesperson, said the cuts marked ‘a sad day for Scottish journalism’.

Commenting on the Herald&Times cuts, Wishart said:

“Any decision that threatens news coverage and quality is clearly troubling and these cut backs are a backward step by the group’s owners.

“When Newsquest acquired these newspapers they made a commitment to develop and invest in them, regrettably those words do not seem to have been backed up by investment.”

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Big outcry over the Welsh Big Issue’s move to … Scotland

Judith Townend — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 12:34:08 +0000

The NUJ have got some celebrity backing to help the protest against the Big Issue Cymru’s move up north.

The opera singer Katherine Jenkins, Radio One DJ Bethan Elfyn and award winning author Rachel Trezise have all voiced their support for an NUJ campaign to keep the The Big Issue Cymru in Wales, after it was recently announced that production would move to Glasgow and leave just one member of staff in Wales. The editor and designer are both facing redundancy.

Jenkins sung said in a release issued today: “I don’t understand how this could continue to work being edited from Scotland? My fingers are crossed, as it would be a very sad day for Wales to see the editorial being written in Glasgow, hundreds of miles away from where it’s all happening.”

And Bethan Elfyn is concerned that only one member of staff only representing Wales will be a ‘token gesture’.

“[It] will not be a good reflection of the world, the people and the activities here in Wales. I hope the sales and the good works that BI does for the homeless won’t suffer as a by-product of these cuts and changes,” Elfyn said in the release. “The staff in Cardiff worked damn hard and will be sorely missed.”

Meanwhile Trezise, author of ‘Fresh Apples’ (which was derived from an entry for the Big Issue Cymru’s short story competition) said that the magazine is “a vital source of income for the homeless in Wales”.

“It is also a very culturally significant publication; one of few independent Welsh media voices that supports native arts,” Trezise said.

The NUJ is also concerned that the move and cutbacks could mean an end to the Welsh speaking content in the magazine.

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EPUK: Herald&Times industrial action possible after introduction of new ‘group multimedia desk’

Laura Oliver — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 11:41:36 +0000

The Glasgow-based Herald-Times newspaper group could see more indsutrial action after changes affecting the working conditions of both staff and freelance photographers across their titles.

HTFP: Herald editor Charles McGhee resigns

Laura Oliver — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 11:53:18 +0000

McGhee steps down after two years in the role, which he took up in January 2006.

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Newsquest attracts 4.8m unique users in 2007

Laura Oliver — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 17:17:03 +0000

According to results release by its parent company Gannett, Newsquest’s network of newspaper websites in the UK recorded 4.8 million unique users last year.

While this is a rise from last May’s ABCe figures – which showed a figure of around 4.5 million unique users to the sites – the numbers seem low, given the portfolio includes over 180 websites, boasting such titles as The Herald in Glasgow, The Press in York and Bradford’s Telegraph & Argus.

Are the numbers smaller than expected? – I’m trying to get hold of someone at Newsquest and I’ll let you know the response.

Update – No one at Newsquest could give me an official comment, as the figures were released by Gannett and not them. One contact, however, did point out to me that whatever the level of traffic announced the fact that Newsquest participates in the ABCe audit gives a reliable point of reference.

Newsquest, Northcliffe, Kent Online and the Midlands News Association are the only regional news publishers to have their sites audited – where are the other players?

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