View all newsletters
Sign up for our free email newsletters

Fighting for quality news media in the digital age.

  1. Media Business
August 30, 2017updated 31 Aug 2017 12:45pm

Johnston Press to restructure its Northern Ireland weekly news operation with loss of eight FTE editorial staff

By Freddy Mayhew

Johnston Press is planning on restructuring its weekly news operation in Northern Ireland with the loss of eight full-time equivalent editorial roles.

The regional publisher has twenty-plus titles in the region (including newspapers and magazines) and has claimed the move will “preserve the future” of unprofitable news titles and offers an alternative to closure.

It has laid blame for the proposed cuts at the door of audience migration to digital and lower online advertising revenues “compounded by the likes of Google and Facebook” who compete for the same revenues.

Johnston Press also pointed the finger at the Duopoly last month when announcing an extensive restructure of its weekly titles in Scotland that resulted in 25 full-time equivalent jobs being axed.

In an internal memo to staff, seen by Press Gazette, Johnston Press said some titles in Northern Ireland were “challenged”.

“Though the number of affected titles is fewer than in Scotland there is a requirement for some restructuring of our weeklies news and communities teams which will allow us to continue to publish all our titles in the most efficient way and ensure our smallest titles remain viable while at the same time targeting our resource at those titles which continue to make a larger contribution to the company’s revenues.

“The planned restructuring will mean a reduction of around eight full-time equivalent in the editorial staff required.

Content from our partners
MHP Group's 30 To Watch awards for young journalists open for entries
How PA Media is helping newspapers make the digital transition
Publishing on the open web is broken, how generative AI could help fix it

“We have already taken a number of measures as part of our plan to protect our titles and get them back into profit… these include, increasing cover prices, reducing terms for newsagents and, where appropriate, reducing paginations.

“These are difficult but necessary measures to preserve the future of these titles and we explained this to readers when we introduced the recent cover price rise.”

The publisher added: “In some respects the ‘easy’ option would be to close those titles which are not profitable now and continue that process going forward.

“We are acutely aware of the effect these options would have on our employees and the communities our newspapers serve, who often rely on them, and associated digital products, as their only source of trusted local news. And so we are trying to find alternatives which this restructure is addressing.”

The daily Belfast News Letter, bi-weekly Derry Journal, and sport and digital teams “will be largely unaffected”, according to Johnston Press.

Under the plans, weeklies will be published with a “strict adherence to set templates” under a 48-page format, according to the memo. “Small titles will all follow the same basic format… to ensure production is as streamlined as possible…”.

Affected staff in both the news and communities teams have been told they can apply for voluntary redundancy or reduced working hours.

The restructure is understood to have followed cuts to advertising staff last week.

In January last year Press Gazette reported Johnston Press plans to cut nearly 100 editorial jobs, including some 32 in Scotland and up to 13 in Northern Ireland.

Topics in this article :

Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog

Select and enter your email address Weekly insight into the big strategic issues affecting the future of the news industry. Essential reading for media leaders every Thursday. Your morning brew of news about the world of news from Press Gazette and elsewhere in the media. Sent at around 10am UK time. Our weekly does of strategic insight about the future of news media aimed at US readers. A fortnightly update from the front-line of news and advertising. Aimed at marketers and those involved in the advertising industry.
  • Business owner/co-owner
  • CEO
  • COO
  • CFO
  • CTO
  • Chairperson
  • Non-Exec Director
  • Other C-Suite
  • Managing Director
  • President/Partner
  • Senior Executive/SVP or Corporate VP or equivalent
  • Director or equivalent
  • Group or Senior Manager
  • Head of Department/Function
  • Manager
  • Non-manager
  • Retired
  • Other
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
Thank you

Thanks for subscribing.

Websites in our network