More than 2,000 jobs at UK-based news organisations have been put at risk during the Covid-19 crisis so far, with more expected to follow.
Cutbacks have fallen across the news industry as the decline in print sales has deepened and the advertising market has collapsed under lockdown.
This month alone more than 200 redundancies have been revealed, split between Mail publisher DMG Media and the Evening Standard.
[Scroll down for Covid-19 cutbacks so far]
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A large proportion of editorial staff are affected by the cutbacks, even at organisations that were able to avoid furloughing staff earlier on.
In April, at the height of the pandemic, Press Gazette reported that more than 2,000 staff across the UK’s national and regional press had been furloughed. Many of these have now turned into real cuts.
At the BBC alone close to 1,000 jobs have been put at risk across news and the nations and regions, with the broadcaster facing an estimated £125m in lost income this financial year as a result of the coronavirus crisis.
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The pandemic has accelerated cutbacks at most news organisations.
The press in particular has already been struggling with a declining print readership, disruption from mobile and online, and a digital ad market dominated by the tech giants.
Covid-19 cutbacks so far:
- DMG Media – up to 100 staff facing redundancy
- Evening Standard – up to 115 staff facing redundancy, including 69 in editorial
- Guardian – up to 180 jobs at risk of redundancy, including 70 in editorial
- Reach – 550 jobs to goat the UK’s largest newspaper publisher (around 12% of its workforce)
- Newsquest – at least 38 journalism jobs at risk, plus more in advertising
- News UK – no numbers yet, but warning of job cuts to comeas transition to “digital future” accelerates
- BBC regions – 450 jobs to goin TV, radio and online at BBC England plus a further 150 across Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
- BBC News – up to 520 jobs to go, including journalists and senior management
- Dennis Publishing – more than 60 jobs at risk, or about 15% of the workforce
- The Stage – redundancy consultations began on 3 July
- The Telegraph – branded content arm ditched ahead of schedule, with fewer than 100 non-editorial roles at risk
- The Economist – 7% of global workforce cut(some 90 job roles) but editorial unaffected
- New York Times – 68 roles terminated, primarily in advertising
- Quartz – 80 jobs cutand London office closed
A recent Press Gazette reader poll showed eight in ten respondents see Covid-19 as major threat to news industry.
Read all Press Gazette’s coverage of the coronavirus pandemic and the news industry here
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