Category Archives: Jobs

Guardian: Journalists win claim of unfair dismissal from Sky

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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.

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

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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.

NUJ: More strife for Newsquest as four more NUJ centres vote to strike

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Protests at Newsquest-owned titles across the country continue this week as members of the National Union of Journalists at four more centres vote in favour of strike action.

According to a release from the NUJ today, members at Newsquest Blackburn, Bradford, Bolton and York have all voted for indsutrial action.

The new votes follow two days of strike action carried out by members at the Brighton Argus and Southern Daily Echo this week, the second round of industrial action for both titles.

Union members are taking action against a continuing pay freeze, redundancies and closure of the pension scheme to future accrual.

More than 90 per cent of members at Newsquest Bradford voted in favour of strike action in a recent ballot while all voters supported action short of a strike, the release adds.

All NUJ members who took part in the ballot at Newsquest Blackburn have voted overwhelmingly for strike action and action short of a strike. NUJ members at Newsquest Bolton have also voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action.

… NUJ members at Newsquest York today voted overwhelmingly for strike action and action short of a strike.

According to the release the newspaper titles within these centres includes:

  • Newsquest Bradford – Bradford Telegraph & Argus, Ilkley Gazette, Wharfedale & Airedale Observer, Craven Herald and the Keighley News.
  • Newsquest Bolton and Newsquest Blackburn – Bolton News and the Bury Times Group weekly series (the Bury Times, Radcliffe Times and The Guide covering Prestwich & Whitefield) and the Lancashire Telegraph, Burnley Citizen, Blackburn Citizen, Chorley Citizen, Bury Journal, Bolton Journal and Westmorland Gazette.
  • Newsquest York – the Press and the Gazette & Herald.

NUJ members at Newsquest Warrington as well as members at the Herald, Sunday Herald and Evening Times in Scotland have also voted to ballot for industrial action.

The NUJ parliamentary group this week launched an Early Day Motion in support of NUJ members at Newsquest, calling on the company to “enter into meaningful discussions with the union at all levels to resolve the disputes by protecting jobs and investing in journalism”.

Jon Slattery: ‘You can slice the salami only so many times,’ warns ex-Argus man

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Former Brighton Argus deputy editor Frank le Duc guest posts on Jon Slattery’s blog about the recent strikes at the Argus and other Newsquest titles, and about the challenges facing regional publishers from new local competition.

The difficulty for companies like Newsquest is that their profits are not coming from a resurgence in advertising revenues but a ruthless cutting of costs.

Newsquest has used a salami-slicing technique which has its limitations. You can slice the salami only so many times before there’s no meat left.

Full post at this link…

Brighton Argus: Twitter account and strike blog boost picket line protests

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Today journalists from the Newsquest-owned Brighton Argus took to the picket line for the second day of strikes, in protest at plans to relocate their subbing operations to Southampton and the loss of seven jobs at the title.

The strike action on both days went beyond the picket line in Brighton, with campaigning staff using social media to spread the word. The group produced a Twitter account @argus_strike, posting videos, pictures and comments throughout the action.

There was also a Argus strike blog set up in the lead up to the action, featuring information on why the staff were striking, campaign links as well as vox-pops with readers. Web editor Jo Wadsworth even called on the title’s community correspondents to support the action by not crossing a virtual picket line, and postponing any submissions to the site until the weekend.

The sub-editors made redundant say they were originally told today would be their last day, but told Journalism.co.uk yesterday they may be asked to work on for another two to four weeks to help with the movement of production down to Southampton.

Members of the National Union of Journalists, local politicians and other supporters stood outside the offices in the south-east town, with the number of journalists estimated to reflect around three quarters of the editorial team at the picket’s peak.

Journalism.co.uk produced this video report, speaking to members of the union and those losing their jobs.

MEN Media to launch new free business weekly

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Manchester Evening News Media announced today that it will launch a new free weekly business magazine called ‘Business Week’.

Earlier this year the city lost a weekly business title after Crain Communication’s Manchester Business closed three years after launch.

The new publication from MEN Media, which includes an accompanying website, will be launched on Thursday 25 November, targeting “key decision makers in Greater Manchester”, a press release says.

The creation of the magazine has introduced two new editorial roles to the company.

NUJ members ballot for strike at north-east Newsquest titles

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National Union of Journalists members across a series of Newsquest-owned north-east titles have started to ballot for industrial action against proposed redundancies and a continuing pay freeze, according to a report from the union.

Members at Newsquest Northeast, which includes The Darlington and Stockton Times, Durham Times and the Advertiser series, have also unanimously passed a motion of no confidence in the chief executives of Newsquest and Newsquest’s US parent company Gannett.

In the NUJ release, the union’s Northern and Midlands organiser, Chris Morley said the proposed loss of eight jobs in the region is the “final straw” for staff:

The proposed redundancies spell disaster for the titles. It is a short-sighted policy that will result in lower quality and readership declining, as editorial staff are stretched ever more thinly.

Staff are shocked at Newsquest’s preparedness to jettison so many of their most valuable assets – experienced, dedicated staff who have been responsible for the success of the titles. We are not prepared to stand by and allow Newsquest to press ahead with their plans for staff redundancies and, ultimately, business suicide.

Tomorrow NUJ members at the Brighton Argus, also part of the Newquest group, will start a two-day strike in response to job losses at the title and the relocation of its subbing operation to Southampton.

Daily Mail deputy editor takes news editor role at Sunday Telegraph

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Telegraph Media Group has announced the appointment of Hugh Dougherty as news editor for the Sunday Telegraph.

Dougherty was previously deputy news editor at the Daily Mail and before that news editor at the Evening Standard

Editor of the Sunday Telegraph, Ian MacGregor, said in a release that he was “delighted” that Dougherty would be helping to set the news agenda at the Sunday paper, describing him as a “superb news editor”.

Manager of Washington startup TBD.com leaves amid ‘stylistic differences’

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At the end of last week it was revealed that the general manager of Washington startup news site TBD.com, Jim Brady, had resigned.

In an internal memo (published by FishbowlDC), TBD publisher Robert Allbritton says Brady decided to move on following “stylistic differences”.

In his positions at AOL, Washingtonpost.com, and now at TBD, Jim has proven himself to be a true visionary and a champion of innovation in the world of online journalism.  The results of his expertise are self-evident: our site is being studied and praised throughout the community of people studying the future of media.

As we talked about the next phase of our growth, it seemed clear to Jim and I both that we had some stylistic differences. So with mutual respect—and in my case a lot of appreciation for the work he has done across the company for the past year—we decided to shake hands and go in different directions.

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