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NUJ: Journalists demand ‘immediate talks’ as 22 jobs face cut at Media Wales

Rachel McAthy — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 08:29:53 +0000

The National Union of Journalists claims reporters at Media Wales are demanding “immediate talks” with management following plans to cut 22 jobs at the publisher.

According to the union, under the proposals 10 district office staff, eight production journalists and four members of the sports staff would be made redundant. Media Wales, part of the Trinity Mirror group, publishes titles including the Western Mail, South Wales Echo and the Wales on Sunday.

The NUJ chapel members have unanimously passed a motion which states the chapel “expresses shock at the scale of editorial cuts being proposed”, adding that “it is determined to do everything possible to protect the jobs, wages and conditions of its members, as well as the quality of our products”.

Father of the chapel Martin Shipton said: “We shall be entering an intensive period of negotiation with management to mitigate the damage to our members’ livelihood and the newspapers we produce.

“Members are especially angry that while they are expected to lose their jobs or in some cases take pay cuts, Sly Bailey and her fellow directors continue to be paid obscene amounts of money.”

Within the motion the chapel also authorises its committee “to take whatever action it sees fit in association with the union’s national officers”, which could include organising a strike ballot.

In a statement Media Wales confirmed the proposals, which centre on the introduction of a single production team for news and features across the Western Mail, South Wales Echo, Wales on Sunday and all its weekly titles.

This means cuts to the number of full-time roles in the editorial production department and the introduction of a new part-time system, the company said.Similar Posts:

#jpod: NUJ stages protest against BBC World Service cutbacks

Rachel McAthy — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 11:23:04 +0000

The BBC broke the news this week that around 650 jobs at the World Service are to be cut by 2014, as the broadcaster seeks to make savings of 16 per cent following a cut in government funding.

The news followed the announcement of cuts in other areas of the BBC, such as BBC Monitoring, which announced it was to cut more than 50 jobs, and BBC Online, which is set to lose 360.

Emotions were running high at the World Service yesterday following the latest announcement. The changes proposed, which include the closure of five full language services and radio programming in seven languages, will also mean the loss of 30 million of the broadcaster’s listeners.

After the proposed changes were outlined in a press conference at the BBC World Service, members of the National Union of Journalists staged a protest demonstrating against the cuts to staff and services.

The union’s general secretary Jeremy Dear said the campaign would not rest until the cuts are overturned.

Listen below for Journalism.co.uk’s #jpod of the day’s events:

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Guardian: Journalists win claim of unfair dismissal from Sky

Rachel McAthy — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 12:28:07 +0000

Two journalists have won claims for unfair dismissal and sex discrimination, it was reported yesterday, with a tribunal ruling that they were axed from their jobs at Sky “because they were mothers with young children”.

The Guardian reports that BSkyB now faces a £200,000 payout to Natalie Stone and Victoria Waterson.

The pair were overlooked for a new position of video producer, which was given to the then senior Sky executive Mike Taylor’s personal assistant, Dee Lakhan. Taylor, head of networked media at Sky Movies, had a “mindset adverse to pregnancy and maternity leave”, the tribunal found.

Both journalists are now seeking compensation for loss of earnings and injury to feelings, the report adds.Similar Posts:

A quarter of Spanish journalists made redundant since recession, suggests report

Rachel McAthy — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 12:04:45 +0000

A report by the Press Association of Madrid claims that at least a quarter of Spanish journalists have lost their jobs and two thirds have experienced a pay reduction since the start of the economic crisis, according to a post on the Shaping the Future of the Newspaper blog based on reports by the Spanish media.

The 2010 Annual Report of the Journalistic Profession also suggests that there has been an increase in the number of journalists not working from 5,155 in 2009 to 5,564 while the average salary has dropped by €5,000 to €30,000 in the last six months, the report adds.

Out of these people, 66 per cent were found to be women.Similar Posts:

The Australian: Digital boosting morale in Australia’s newsrooms despite job losses

Laura Oliver — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 12:06:20 +0000

A look at the Future of Journalism study released by Australian industry group the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance, which suggests that despite 700 job losses in the metropolitan news industry in the country since 2008, morale is still relatively high amongst working journalists.

Full story on the Australian at this link…Similar Posts:

Talking Biz News: Bloomberg Businessweek cuts online staff

Laura Oliver — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 11:01:48 +0000

According to Talking Biz News, Bloomberg Businessweek has made cuts to its online staff, including news editor of Businessweek.com Phil Mintz.

Full story on Talking Biz News at this link…Similar Posts:

Ad Age: Internet media employment at peak since 2001 despite falls elsewhere

Laura Oliver — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 14:54:41 +0000

Advertising Age research suggests that media companies in the US have cut one in seven jobs since the start of the recession. But employment at internet media firms has risen to its highest level since 2001, according to the figures, which the title has been collecting since 1981.

Internet media companies and broadcast TV have seen solid year-to-date job gains. There’s even hope in newspapers, where recent monthly job cuts are at the lowest level since the start of the recession.

The chart below of Advertising Age’s stats shows the percentage change in the number of jobs in each media sector since December 2007:

As part of its ranking, Advertising Age looks at the leading 100 media companies in the US to see how they have fared over the past year in comparison to the rest of the industry.

Full results can be seen in this report (registration required), but some key points:

Revenue for the US’ top media firms rose by 6.1 per cent in the first half of 2010;
Video and broadband providers accounted for 39 per cent of 2009′s net revenue for the top 100 media companies;
According to Ad Age, media employment has risen consecutively for two months – for the first time since 2006.

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MediaGuardian: News International to cut 80 staff, as more digital execs leave Telegraph

Laura Oliver — Fri, 14 May 2010 09:14:31 +0000

Following yesterday’s news that the Times and Sunday Times are looking to cut 80 staff between them and editorial budgets by 10 per cent to stem sever daily losses of around £240,000, Times editor James Harding has told staff that all departments will be involved in cost-cutting to protect the future of its journalism:

In an email to staff, reports MediaGuardian, Harding says:

We are clearly in a period of galloping technological change and we need to ensure that we have the resources to invest so that we can lead the market in digital journalism (…) Today, we are starting a process to cut costs, reduce our losses and free up resources for the future of our journalism.

Full story at this link…

Meanwhile, Will Lewis’ departure from the Telegraph has been followed by exits for Chris Lloyd, deputy managing editor at Telegraph Media Group, and Rhidian Wynn Davies, consulting editor – both key executives in Lewis’ digital operation, Euston Partners.

Full story at this link…Similar Posts:

Despite group redundancies and pay freeze, Johnston Press CEO’s pay package nears £1m

Judith Townend — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 12:03:17 +0000

Redundancies across the group and a pay freeze for all staff haven’t stopped the Johnston Press bosses taking home rather juicy bonuses for 2009. As reported by the Times earlier this month, Johnston Press closed five papers last year, and 768 staff left the group in 2009. Pre-tax profits for 2009 were £43 million, a drop of 56 per cent.

But as reported by Johnston Press’ own paper, the Scotsman, John Fry, the group’s chief executive, took home £959,000 in pay, benefits and bonuses in 2009.

The package, reported in the group’s annual report this week, included: £210,000 cash bonus; a £210,000 performance-related bonus paid in shares (deferred for three years); and a basic salary of £525,000.

The Scotsman reports that his predecessor, Tim Bowdler, who retired in early 2009, was awarded £573,000 in basic pay in 2008. “All executive directors waived their right to a performance-related bonus that year,” it says.

Basic salary for the group’s two other executive directors, chief financial officer Stuart Paterson and chief operating officer Danny Cammiade, did not increase but they took home total packages of £655,000 and £590,000 respectively. In 2008 they took home £363,000 and £342,000 in total, respectively.

Here’s the comparison visualised in a chart. This shows the % change in £ from 2008 figures to 2009 figures (we’ve compared Fry’s pay package with Bowdler’s). The middle column at 0 represents the basic salary pay freeze across the group.

Blue: JP CEO pay package / Red: JP chief financial officer pay package / Yellow: chief operating officer pay package / Green: basic pay rise across group / Grey: total group revenue / Dark blue: advertising revenue / Magenta: JP pre-tax profit

Full Scotsman report at this link…Similar Posts:

Advertising Age: US newspapers cut 109,500 jobs in past five years

Laura Oliver — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 09:37:18 +0000

Advertising Age’s article from earlier this week on the difficulties faced by media advertising staff making the transition from selling print space to going digital is worth a read – not least for the statistics it offers on media job cuts in the US:

Between January 2005 and January 2010, newspapers eliminated 109,500 jobs and magazines shed 19,400, according to an Ad Age DataCenter analysis of Bureau of Labour Statistics’ jobs data. During that same period, jobs at internet media companies, portals and search engines grew by 18,300.

Full story at this link…Similar Posts:

Patrick Thornton: Journalism’s beacons of light can’t even make it

Judith Townend — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 09:52:22 +0000

Patrick Thornton, the US-based ‘beat blogging’ enthusiast, has decided to move out of full-time journalism, to a position as community and social media manager for a conservation organisation. His blog post announcing the move reflects on the wider industry; despite having only worked in journalism full-time since 2006, he was already depressed:

“Loss and destruction has been almost all that I’ve ever known in journalism. Sure, there has been great work along the way, almost always at the individual level. But many of those innovators that I chronicled at BeatBlogging.Org moved on to other jobs and other fields.

“And that was depressing. These were our beacons of light, and they couldn’t make it. The journalism industry has lost a lot of journalists, and many of those that it has lost were the best, brightest and most innovative.

“But the real problem isn’t a journalism problem. Journalism is moving forward. It’s a business model problem, and that something I can’t help that much with.”

Full post at this link…Similar Posts:

Take our survey: ‘What do UK journalists do after losing their jobs?’ #laidoffjournalist

Judith Townend — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 10:59:46 +0000

Please spread these links by email, tweet, blog and word of mouth.

A new survey asking laid-off journalists what happens after the newsroom, was launched today by the University of Central Lancashire (UCLAN) and Journalism.co.uk.

Journalists who have left newspapers in the UK are invited to contribute to the study, led by François Nel, who runs the Journalism Leaders Programme at UCLAN.

We want to know about your experiences of losing your job and how you have adapted in your personal and professional life since leaving the newspaper. We’re also considering the gap in knowledge and experience you have left behind.

The survey, which draws on work by colleagues in the US and the University of Kansas, is voluntary and confidential. Results cannot be attributed to a specific individual unless the individual chooses to reveal himself or herself. You also can refuse to answer any question. The survey will take 10 to 15 minutes to complete.

Journalism.co.uk / UCLAN survey: ‘What do UK journalists do after losing their jobs?‘

Journalism.co.uk: ‘Is there life after journalism?’

Take the survey at this link

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Independent.co.uk: Does it matter that UK regional papers are in crisis?

Judith Townend — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 10:05:30 +0000

A big question indeed from the Independent’s Ian Burrell. He takes a look at issues affecting the performance of UK regional press and presents the ‘for’ and ‘against’ views on whether the ‘crisis’ matters.

Have regionals ‘had their day’? “Not at all,” the article says, at one point. “An impressive 82 per cent of UK adults read local newspapers, a level of penetration matched by no other medium except television.”

Full story at this link…Similar Posts:

NUJ jobs crisis summit round-up – ‘Murdoch and Dacre have brought us into disrepute’

Laura Oliver — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 14:06:28 +0000

Saturday saw around 150 gathered for the National Union of Journalists’ (NUJ) job crisis summit, part of a union-wide campaign against job cuts and pay freezes in the industry.

Speaking at the summit, Flat Earth News author and journalist Nick Davies called upon journalists to be ‘whistleblowers on our own newsrooms’:

“We need to tell the public the impact of the job cuts on newsgathering,” he said in a report on the NUJ website.

“The public must know that the corporations have taken over the newsrooms and ransacked them for profit and that is why readers have lost trust in us.

“We need to improve the status of journalists. We are not trusted; we are not liked, because we are misperceived. The best known people in journalism are people like Rupert Murdoch and Paul Dacre, who have brought us into disrepute.”

Exposing flaws in managements’ running of newsrooms and putting state aid into the hands of journalists and not corporations would help provide a practical solution to a financial problem, he added.

The union will launch a campaign of lobbying MPs and local authorities, protests and possible industrial action, legal challenges to staff cuts and workplace issues, and a public debate of the situation.

The meeting called on the NUJ’s general secretary, Jeremy Dear, to meet with employers on a national level, and speak with ministers about media ownership regulation:

“This meeting believes the economic model practised by media employers over recent years – a sub-prime media market – is dead. It is scoops, quality editorial content, strong images and an engaged readership which will see media survive and flourish not retrenchment and soaring executive pay,” a motion ruled by the meeting said.

“This meeting further believes that light touch media regulation and the weakening of media ownership laws has led to an unhealthy consolidation of media ownership.

“Many media owners continue to show they have no coherent strategy that can secure a viable future for media in print, broadcast or online.”

Also discussed: chapels must include freelancers, casuals and contributors in activity and agreements surrounding cutbacks.

The summit also acknowledged the wider global crisis in the industry and pledged to work with both other UK industry unions, such as BECTU and UNITE, and international representatives.Similar Posts:

NUJ Release: Newsquest to axe editor and 13 editorial jobs at Colchester Gazette

Judith Townend — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 13:36:06 +0000

Newsquest has told staff that it wants to axe the position of editor and up to 13 editorial jobs on the Colchester Gazette, and will move management and subbing of the paper to Basildon – 40 miles away. Full release…Similar Posts: