Journalism.co.uk Editors' Blog » Johnston Press

HTFP: Johnston Press to axe sub-editing hub plans

Laura Oliver — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 09:37:49 +0000

HoldtheFrontPage reports that massive opposition from staff has forced Johnston Press to scrap plans for a new sub-editing hub in the Midlands.

Sources within Johnston Press have claimed the decision is the result of a new content management system being introduced, while others suggest the move has been postponed and not scrapped.

No jobs were threatened by the proposed hub, but the plans would affect operations at the Mansfield Chad series, Hucknall Despatch, Buxton Advertiser and Ilkeston Advertiser.

Full story at this link…

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Ed Walker: Council coverage in Lancashire Evening Post

Judith Townend — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 12:42:23 +0000

Some quantitative evidence on local newspapers and council reporting from Ed Walker (former Uclan student and hyperlocal blogger), as part of a Help Me Investigate project. He looked at a Johnston Press title, the Lancashire Evening Post, which covers Preston and other parts of Lancashire.

“I found that there were 35 pages devoted to news on 23/11, 25/11 and 27/11 and of these 6.25 pages were given over to ‘council reporting’.

“Like others I’ve been finding there is little reporting of council meetings, more stories are created from council press releases and then a few quotes from councillors. It’s also not clear when these councillors were saying these quotes, although the councillors title and ward are always attached.”

Full story at this link…

(via Thoughts of Nigel)

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BBC Radio 4 Today: Pay walls discussed with @ruskin147 and @emilybell

Judith Townend — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 10:09:37 +0000

This morning’s Today Programme discusses pay walls with BBC technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones; Emily Bell, director of digital content at the Guardian; and Roger Parry, former chair of Johnston Press.

Johnston Press is – from this morning – to start charging for web access to some of its regional newspapers.

Cellan-Jones says it will be a ‘real test of the appetite of readers to actually pay for what’s online’.

Emily Bell makes the distinction between ‘paid content’ and ‘pay walls’; while she is sceptical about the future success of pay walls, people might be willing to pay for an iPhone app, for example, she says.

Full post at this link…

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Holdthefrontpage: Johnston Press to charge for online regional news

Judith Townend — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 12:40:17 +0000

HoldTheFrontPage reports it has seen an internal memo indicating that Johnston Press is to introduce a paid-for news model, beginning on some sites from Monday:

“Managers have told staff that JP intends to roll-out the paid-for model across the company in line with what they are calling ‘industry moves in this area to find a sustainable business model going forward.’”

Johnston Press ‘has declined to comment publicly on the plan’ HTFP reports.

Full post at this link…

Know more? Drop judith or laura [at] journalism.co.uk a line.

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BBC/Milne Media: More than 100 jobs at risk in Scotsman print move

Laura Oliver — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 07:45:43 +0000

More than 100 jobs could go at Scotsman Publications’ Edinburgh printing plant as owners Johnston Press have decided to move operations to its Glasgow base.

The Scotsman and Scotland on Sunday will no be printed at the Cardonald print works in Glasgow, owned by Trinity Mirror, while 40 other titles will be printed in Sunderland.

Full story at this link…

More background on the move at Milne Media.

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Johnston Press’ ad revenues feel effects of recession

Nora McKeogh — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 15:17:41 +0000

Johnston Press has today reported half-year revenues of £218.6 million – down 25.4 per cent year-on-year.

Print advertising revenue fell by 33.5 per cent; while digital advertising revenues also declined – by 18.8 per cent.

The publisher’s revenue from employment advertising was down by 53.8 per cent, property ads by 54.2 per cent, motors by 29.3 per cent and from other classifieds by 11.5 per cent.

The company’s interim report said ad revenues were down 32.7 per cent in the first six months of 2009 compared with the same period in 2008.

In an attempt to improve their digital recruitment sites and therefore their appeal to recruitment advertisers, Johnston Press has entered into a joint venture with Daily Mail & General Trust, giving them access to the latter’s Jobsite software.

The report also expresses the group’s struggle ‘to compete with the regional activities of the publicly funded BBC digital presence’, claiming that it ‘distorts the markets within which they operate through making the charging for news content extremely difficult’.

“The timing of the economic upturn remains uncertain but advertising revenues are demonstrating greater stability
and we expect the cyclical improvement when it comes to more than compensate any structural change. We will
maintain our focus on costs and look to secure operating efficiencies during the second half of the year,” said CEO John Fry in the report.

Yesterday the publisher celebrated success after it was announced that it had attracted the most unique users, to its network of regional newspaper websites, in the first six months of 2009.

The publisher, which is responsible for more than 323 websites, recorded 6,864,820 monthly unique users on average over the period, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations Electronic’s six-monthly report for regional newspaper groups.

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Johnston Press at centre of bid speculation but denies ‘any disposal process underway’ for the Scotsman

Judith Townend — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 10:23:50 +0000

Yesterday, the Sunday Times reported that a ‘consortium of Scottish businessmen is trying to buy The Scotsman newspaper from the debt-laden Johnston Press’. It claimed:

“Martin Gilbert, the chief executive of Aberdeen Asset Management, has joined forces with Edinburgh financier Ben Thomson and property developer Mark Shaw to acquire the daily.

“Talks have taken place in recent weeks but the two sides are believed to be a long way apart on price. Industry sources say Johnston is holding out for about £40m for The Scotsman, which it bought from the Barclay brothers for £160m in 2005.

(…)

“Sources close to Johnston confirmed an informal approach for the division, which includes Scotland on Sunday and the Edinburgh Evening News, but said there were no plans for a formal sale.”

Also of note is the claim that JP is in discussions with Newsquest, publisher of rival The Herald, ‘about a joint venture to pool resources. Previous attempts to merge the titles were blocked by politicians’.

AllMediaScotland links to the claims here and Shaun Milne comments here.

Like allmediascotland, Journalism.co.uk has received this statement from Johnston Press:

“Johnston Press notes the press speculation regarding the potential disposal of the Scotsman.

“Whilst Company policy is not to comment on such speculation, Johnston Press can confirm that the board does not have any disposal process underway in this regard.”

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NUJ Release: Journalists thank the people of West Yorkshire

Judith Townend — Wed, 06 May 2009 15:44:34 +0000

The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) reports that journalists were due to hand out thank you letters to the people of West Yorkshire today.

“NUJ members from the Yorkshire Post, Yorkshire Evening Post and Leeds Weekly News want to show their appreciation for the support they received during thirteen days of strike action over compulsory redundancies.”

Full release at this link…

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NUJ Release: Johnston Press strikers go south

Judith Townend — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 11:10:12 +0000

“Strikers from Yorkshire demonstrated at a London PR firm today as their employers – Johnston Press – announced more big profits,” a release from the National Union of Journalists said.

“The Yorkshire Post and Yorkshire Evening Post journalists were joined by NUJ general secretary Jeremy Dear as they leafleted JP chiefs and city workers about their fight against job cuts,” the report continues.

Full release at this link…

Also, a photograph of the protest over at Jon Slattery’s blog.

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Reuters: ‘Johnston Press 2009 ad revenues slump 36 per cent’

Judith Townend — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 09:55:19 +0000

“British regional newspaper group Johnston Press axed its final 2008 dividend on Wednesday after saying its advertising revenues in 2009 to date were down 36 per cent,” Reuters reports.

“The group, which has been especially hard hit by its high exposure to local classified advertising and sectors such as employment, housing and motoring, posted 2008 results in line with forecasts, with operating profit down 28 per cent.”

Full story at this link…

and another report from MediaGuardian at this link.

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