October 9, 2024

Why Reach journalists are being asked to write up to eight articles per day

Reach newsrooms given aim to increase article output in response to Facebook and Google referral declines.

Paul Rowland sitting on stage speaking looking to his right holding a microphone and gesturing with his other hand. Also in shot are a woman in a pink suit (Nina Wright) and a man wearing black (Graham Page) looking at Rowland. — Paul Rowland, Reach editorial director, at the Future of Media Technology Conference on 12 September 2024. Picture: ASV Photography for Press Gazette

The editorial director of Reach’s Live network of websites has described page views as “the best thing we’ve got right now” amid a drive to increase the number of stories they publish.

Paul Rowland wrote in an email to staff on 27 September that article volumes were being talked about “a lot in newsrooms at the moment” and blamed, in part, the volatility from previously huge traffic referrers like Google and Facebook.

A separate email, sent by Birmingham Live editor Graeme Brown last month, suggested journalists should file at least eight stories per day unless they were newsgathering outside of the office.