Member Article

Johnston Press axes Yorkshire jobs as cost cutting drive continues

Johnston Press has announced there will be up to 19 job cuts across 19 titles in Yorkshire.

Staff across the Yorkshire Publishing Unit were told their editorial budget is to be reduced by 8%, with between 15 and 19 jobs to go by the end of March.

Johnston Press chief executive Ashley Highfield announced his plan in 2012 to pay back £350 million of debt and return the company to growth.

Under the plan, editorial content will be produced 50/50 between journalists and readers and revenue will also be split half and half between print and digital.

He said on Monday that there would be redundancies across “one or two” publishing units as the company faces a “rapidly changing environment”.

He said: “The reality is that, whilst revenue decline is slowing, as a result of the hard work and measures taking place across our business, we still face the challenge of offsetting print revenue decline through digital and mobile growth and, while we are beginning to make great inroads here, the challenge remains. We are not quite at the tipping point.”

The National Union of Journalists spokesperson said: “Our members have been left shocked by today’s announcement. It’s difficult to see how further job losses, which leave newsrooms struggling to function, are the way forward.

“Staffing is already at crisis point, leading to excessive hours and workloads and rock-bottom morale, as evidenced in a recent stress survey by the NUJ.

“We are seeking meaningful negotiations with the company to explore ways of avoiding job losses.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .