Regional press cuts savage but not the end of the world

Posted by Dominic Ponsford on 16 March 2009 at 10:32
Tags: Johnston Press, Journalism, newspapers, regional, regional newspapers

Jon Slattery paints a grim picture of life today in the regional press in today’s Media Guardian cover story.

More than 900 regional press journalists made redundant since July, an industry “being butchered by some international newspaper conglomorates” as one ex-editor puts it and journalists losing their jobs wondering “where the hell do we go from here?”.

We live in tough times indeed. And it is particularly galling that these jobs cuts in the regions come despite the fact that supposedly hard-hit companies like Johnston Press are still making big profits (albeit dramatically lower ones than last year).

Johnston’s profits of £128.4m (a margin of 24.1 per cent) would be considered very healthy by most businesses in the current climate.

But despite the job cuts and the downsizing, this is not the end of life in the regional press.

If you doubled the NUJ estimate of 900 editorial redundancies, to include non-replacement, if as many as 2,000 journalists had gone in the regional press – that would make up perhaps as many as 20 per cent of the editorial workforce. A savage reduction – but not an apocalyptic one – and probably comparable to cutbacks experienced in many other industries hit by the current recession.

Journalists made redundant fear for their futures. One tells Slattery: “There’s simply nothing out there.”

But although the job market may be tough at present, I’d argue that most journalists will probably find themselves much better paid jobs in the long term.

The skills they have learned in the newsroom – negotiation, writing, management, interviewing, organisation – will equip them well for all sorts of new career opportunities, if they decide to leave the profession. The senior ranks of politics, PR, academia and many other industries are filled with ex-journalists.

As to where do we go from here?

These cutbacks come at a time when technology has made the cost of becoming a publisher cheaper than ever before – online and in print.

The big publishers are retreating from the communities their newspapers have served, often for more than a century. But people still need news, they still need to buy and sell things – and in an increasingly fragmented world there will be more value than ever placed on media which can deliver big audiences (or small audiences which represent a large proportion of a community).

The current stock market model of local newspaper ownership may well be failing – as companies eat themselves in order to satisfy short-term profit targets.

This could provide an opportunity for more locally owned and managed regional media to emerge.

Gone to press: preview of this week’s magazine

Posted by Dominic Ponsford on 12 March 2008 at 11:20
Tags: Johnston Press, Press Gazette, Tim Bowdler, regional newspapers

There’s too much good stuff in this week’s magazine to condense into a snappy blog post. But here are some of the highlights:

Psst…Want to buy a major newspaper publisher for £450 million – you could make your money back in three years! We investigate the factors which have led Johnston Press to lose a third of its market valuation in a year – and speak to chief executive Tim Bowdler about what it means for journalists.

We investigate the PR stunt which prompted news reports around the world.

If print publishing is on the side – why were two new local newspapers launched this week? Full details of launches in Cleethorpes and Stroud.

Archant responds to its critics over plans to make 20 sub-editors in Suffolk redundant. Managing director Stuart McCreery says: “It’s not about devaluing the skills of our journalists.”

Think your leaving do was good? We discover the journalist who had a classical work written in his honour.

My Week by Sunday Times defence writer Michael Smith: “The media seems to be under frenzied attack from service personnel obsessed with a whole series of different conspiracy theories.”

Special report on reporting the downturn with Robert Peston from the BBC, the Daily Mail’s Alex Brummer and FT economics editor Chris Giles.

In-depth interview with NatMag chief executive Duncan Edwards: “A lot of magazines look the same and are delivering fairly indistinguishable content. We need to fix that.”

BBC technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones on reporters using mobile video: “I have never seen it as my job to hold the camera, rather to stare into it, checking my hair from time to time. But perhaps that is changing.”

Press Gazette gets posted to subscribers this afternoon. If you want to be one of the people seeing the mag first tomorrow morning – click here and find out how to try out four issues for free.

Press Gazette is in newsstands on Friday. Click here to find your nearest stockist.

Rewards and incentives must not just be at the top

Posted by Press Gazette on 5 April 2007 at 10:00
Tags: Johnston Press, Journalists, Press Gazette Leaders, Sly Bailey, Tim Bowdler, Trinity Mirror

Journalism is not the best paid profession. But it can still be an extremely lucrative business to be in, as the newly revealed salaries of Tim Bowdler and Sly Bailey show.

The Johnston Press annual report revealed last week that pay for chief executive Bowdler rose from £622,000 to £800,000 in 2006. And the Trinity Mirror results this week revealed that pay for chief executive Bailey had increased 48 per cent to £1.45 million.

While neither are journalists, it is surely a positive sign for the industry that the pickings at the top are so rich. Both executives lead predominately regional newspaper-based businesses which are grappling with unprecedented challenges. While profits are down, they have nonetheless been rewarded for their ability to grapple with the new media challenge while at the same time cutting costs.

It is a great shame that the board of directors of these two publishing giants don’t apply the same logic when assessing the annual remuneration packages for the journalists — without whose blood, sweat and tears neither business would exist.

But far from the 48 per cent pay rise enjoyed by Bailey, most journalists will be lucky if their annual pay rise keeps pace with inflation, despite the fact that they are expected to work harder than ever — producing the same papers with fewer resources while at the same time beefing up multi-media output.

Newspaper owners trade on the fact that journalists are often driven more by professional pride and hunger to tell the story than by money.

But if they are going to compete with ever-more internet start-ups — and persuade their own staff not to start online competitors themselves — they need to encourage grassroots innovation from the people who know their businesses best.

And that means incentivising journalists rather than just paying them the minimum amount that the market will bear.