Hastings Observer pays substantial damages after expenses error
Posted
by
Dominic Ponsford
on 30 September 2009
at 11:10
Tags: Media Business, Regional Newspapers
The Johnston Press-owned Hastings Observer has apologised and paid substantial damages to councillor Peter Jones over a story which reported that he had claimed £91,000 in expenses over a the course of a year.
In fact he claimed £5,291 and received other money through being a member of various public bodies, holdthefrontpage reports.
In March, Johnston Press made the long-serving editors of the Hastings Observer group and of the neighbouring Eastbourne Observer redundant. They were replaced by new editor-in-chief Keith Ridley, a former managing director of Johnston’s central counties division.
Last December Johnston axed all the sub editors at Hastings instead subbing the paper via a centralised subbing pool in Horsham 55 miles away.
