NUJ decries new job cuts by Reach plc
Over 300 jobs within editorial are at risk of being cut following an announcement of a restructure today. The NUJ says this serves a 'devastating body blow' to the publisher's journalists.
The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) has decried substantial job cuts announced by publisher Reach, today. A proposed restructure for its editorial function puts 600 journalists at risk and threatens 321 jobs being cut. However, 135 new roles are expected to be created which could mitigate the overall number of individuals leaving the company.
Today’s wave of job cuts follows those announced in recent weeks by Reach impacting sport teams. Reach is publisher of leading titles including The Express, The Mirror, Manchester Evening News, Daily Star and Liverpool Echo.
The NUJ’s Reach group chapel last year stressed its concern over the debilitating drain of morale caused by redundancies and restructures by the publisher, with the constant threat of cutbacks having a significant impact on journalists.
Commenting on today's announcement, Chris Morley, NUJ national Reach coordinator, said “Yet again, morale is being dragged down by the threat of mass redundancies of journalists whose only crime is to work hard and strive to reach massive audiences with quality journalism each day.
“The thought that any media business can afford to shed hundreds of talented journalists to secure its future makes you wonder what sort of future that will be.”
Reach’s restructure includes changes it says, will allow the organisation to have a wider reach. Its focus on video journalism will see changes resulting in these staff embedded into newsroom teams across editorial. Its vision for growth includes hopes to diversify revenues, with a new focus on digital subscriptions.
The NUJ has repeatedly voiced its growing concern over the use of artificial intelligence to replace the work of journalists at the publisher, and is seeking further clarification on how AI will feature in the restructure.
As the consultation process commences, the union will engage with Reach over cuts and has stressed the importance of meaningful and transparent engagement.
Laura Davison, NUJ general secretary, said:
“Yet again, journalists at Reach must bear the burden of huge cuts announced by the organisation, leaving many understandably worried about their future at the company. With every restructure and redundancy round, experienced journalists leave behind already-stretched teams left to manage burgeoning workloads.
“It is time Reach considers a long-term sustainable strategy that recognises the value its journalists bring in contributing to its success. Their ability to pivot and adapt to meet company needs in recent years has been evident, yet these significant redundancies proposed show no regard for this. The company’s leadership must recognise that endless job cuts serve as a threat to the standards of journalism at the publisher, impacting the journalism audiences deserve.”
Morley added:
“The scale of today’s announcement, while trailed by Reach, comes as a devastating body blow to staff who have done all that is asked of them and more in the last year to make a success of this business.
“The latest strategy to the digital promised land does come with some attractive pledges but we are not sold that the route taken to achieve it is necessarily the right one. We are sceptical that the way to develop the group’s distinctive and popular brands such as The Mirror, Express, Daily Star and a host of major regional titles is to cut a swathe through their ranks of specialist writers.
“Who will bring the scoops, who will provide the colour and who will do the analysis and comment that readers expect from such important titles in the fabric of each nation? Merging of resources and introducing identical newspaper pages between brands to eliminate ‘duplication’ risks switch off from the buying public.
“Stretched workforces are being significantly cut again so how much human scrutiny will those AI assisted stories really get and what will the workload of remaining journalists be like?
“And the new pivot to online subscriptions surely requires investment in more and better quality to create an overall product that will entice new and loyal readers. We hear a lot from the company about the need to be ‘authoritative and authentic’ but the hole where redundant journalists were appears to be filled by the chatter from AI.
“There is so much at stake here and so many questions raised before we have even delved into the detail. The NUJ will be going through these proposals line by line and engaging to the full in formal consultation to minimise the number of redundancies made. We will be pressing the principle that wherever possible, those who want to stay in the business can do so, while those that want to leave are facilitated to do so without quibble.
“There is a difficult road ahead, but we will be working hard to find the best and most effective outcome and solutions for our members and, ultimately, the business.”