February 1, 2012

Production journalists hit as Telegraph cuts 30 staff

Production journalists are feeling the brunt of around 30 editorial redundancies currently taking place at Telegraph Media Group.

Press Gazette understands that around a dozen production journalists are expected to get their marching orders this week as the publisher looks to merge all production journalists into one pool covering news, features and business.

It is understood that the sports production team is not being merged into the new pool, and that magazines and supplements have not been hit by the cutbacks

A handful of journalists have already left the company this week including the editor of telegraph.co.uk Marcus Warren and head of visuals Guy Ruddle.

Telegraph Media Group, publisher of The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph, has around 500 editorial staff, which is believed to be more than when the Barclay Brothers bought the company in 2005.

This is despite the fact that waves of cutbacks have seen more than 300 journalists made redundant at Telegraph Media Group since 2005.

Neither the NUJ or the Telegraph was willing to comment.

One Telegraph source expressed concern that while these cutbacks are going on, London mayor Boris Johnson continues to earn £250,000 a year for one column a week – a column which he has said he writes in less than an hour and a half at the weekend.