The editor-in-chief of the Mirror has insisted it will continue its “long and proud history of campaigning and investigative journalism” despite its staff merger with OK! magazine.
The Mirror is famous for its campaigning journalism from seal clubbing to Hillsborough and Partygate, while weekly magazine OK! is best known for its coverage of celebrity weddings.
Publisher Reach has emphasised that the changes will only apply to the showbiz and features editorial teams (which already have natural crossover). Celebrity coverage has always been a staple of the tabloid Mirror – especially in the modern era.
But OK!, which became part of the Reach stable after the acquisition of Richard Desmond’s media titles in 2018, is nonetheless seen as a world apart from the Mirror in terms of its track record of journalistic endeavour.
Press Gazette understands the move will not lead to reduced headcount but that Mirror management sees it has being about making more effective use of existing resources and avoiding doubling up on the reporting of particular stories.
Waterston told Press Gazette: “Our brands will remain completely distinct as will many of our teams, for example, production, news and politics. The Mirror has a long and proud history of campaigning and investigative journalism and will continue to bring a wide audience to this important work.
“These changes will mainly apply to showbiz and features teams – areas where we naturally cross over – and increase our competitive edge in getting big stories. Mirror readers love an entertainment exclusive and we’re banding together to get them more of what they love.”
One Mirror insider said they thought the move was a response to falling digital traffic.
In September, total audience minutes spent with the Mirror website fell 29% year on year (according to Ipsos iris) and time spent with OK! fell 42%.
Print circulation of the Daily Mirror fell just over 15% year on year to 210,900 copies per day in October.
Average weekly circulation of OK! is now just under 50,000 copies (down from more than 300,000 a decade ago).
The Mirror insider said they saw the merger as part of a growing focus on digital showbiz content which is seen as better able to drive online page views.
Content recommendation ads platform Taboola reported last month that nearly 5,500 articles had been written by UK news publishers about BBC show Strictly Come Dancing since mid-September, generating 42 million article views (or 10% of all news website traffic).
The extent to which showbiz content already drives the Mirror’s news agenda is reflected by the fact the title has published 29 stories in the last 24 hours about ITV reality show I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here.
OK! editorial coverage focuses on the royal family, TV and other celebrity content.
Several former Mirror staffers got in contact with Press Gazette to express bemusement at news of the merger between the two brands.
The comment of former Mirror health editor Jill Palmer appeared to be fairly typical among them: “I’m totally horrified. How can any self-respecting journalist on the Daily Mirror want to write stories suitable for OK! magazine?” She added: “The Mirror of old was a highly respected newspaper.”
The changes come against a wider backdrop of cuts across the Mirror titles.
According to Reach chief executive Jim Mullen, in the latter part of 2024 departures have been more than made up for by the recruitment of 60 new editorial staff including “audience writers” and “general assignment journalists” tasked with producing audience-driving content across the group covering popular topics like TV, gardening and DIY.
This year Reach has also been making use of in-house AI tool Gutenbot to rewrite the same story for publication across multiple websites.
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