Journalists at the Crewe Chronicle have been offered "a base" in a local council building after Trinity Mirror announced it would be closing the newspaper office in a home-working experiment.
Cheshire East council leader Michael Jones made the offer at a public meeting this week. He said the decision to close the Crewe office was "incredible when you think how much news is coming out from Crewe".
Jones said: "I'm very happy to offer to the Crewe Chronicle team that if they do want to be based somewhere that we can find place for them in the municipal buildings.
"We have got a radio station in there – I'm sure we can find space for them in there. "We need our local paper to be vibrant and strong."
He was responding to a question from local councillor Steve Hogben, who told the meeting: "It seems to me that this is a backward step when Crewe is being promoted as a city. It seems extraordinary that a city shouldn't have a newspaper office where people can drop in."
Trinity Mirror announced last week that Crewe Chronicle journalists would work from home from the end of May – and that the pilot could be extended elsewhere if successful.
The NUJ Trinity Mirror Cheshire chapel said the move would affect the personal working conditions of members.
It said: "The chapel believes a newspaper should have a physical presence in the heart of the community it serves. It is also concerned that journalists will become isolated and will not benefit from the teamwork that results from working alongside colleagues in an office. Younger members of staff particularly benefit from working with more experienced colleagues."
Trinity Mirror says the move will allow costs to be saved without cutting journalist jobs. It said: "We're harnessing the benefits of mobile technology to allow reporters to work in local markets and remove costly infrastructure. We want to invest in journalism not bricks and mortar."
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