Saturday strike set for Scottish papers

Journalists on Scotland’s Daily Record and Sunday Mail are to strike on Saturday over job cuts. NUJ members say they are opposing management forcing through around 20 compulsory redundancies.
In January parent company Trinity Mirror announced plans for seventy job cuts and the merger of the Glasgow-based titles under one editor-in-chief.
More than 40 volunteers put themselves forward for redundancy, but the NUJ claims the company wants more cuts.
In a postal ballot for industrial action, NUJ members voted 85 percent for strike action and 90 percent for action short of a strike. The chapel has given notice of a one-day strike beginning at midnight on Friday/Saturday, followed by a work-to-rule and another 24 hour strike on Friday April 10.

More cuts on the way at Trinity Mirror

Trinity Mirror has increased its 2009 target for cost savings from £20m to £25m after reporting a 22 per cent decline in like-for-like full-year profits, Press Gazette says today.
It reports: "Faced with falling revenues and inflationary cost pressures, particularly significant newsprint price increases, 2009 will see a continued focus on the management of costs," the company warned today.
"This includes a tight recruitment policy and the implementation of a group-wide pay freeze. We are confident of achieving new cost savings."
Group revenues in 2008 fell 6.5 per cent from £932.3m to £871.7m, according to the newly released accounts. Trinity Mirror said the trend was likely to continue, with advertising revenue in January and February down 30 per cent on the same period last year - 37 per cent in the regionals and 10 per cent in the nationals.
In the regionals, profits fell 37.4 per cent to £68.2m and the profit margin fell from 24.5 per cent to 17.2 per cent.

Another 70 jobs axed by Trinity Mirror

Press Gazette and MediaGuardian are reporting that 70 jobs are to go at Trinity Mirror in Scotland with the company merging editorial departments on the Daily Record and Sunday Mail in Glasgow.
Record editor Bruce Waddell is appointed editor-in-chief of the Record and Sunday Mail, while current Sunday Mail editor Allan Rennie has been moved to a new role of editorial development director of Trinity Mirror's national titles.

One Brazilian footballer is worth more than Trinity Mirror and Johnston Press

According to The Sun today, Manchester City has valued Brazilian footballer Kaka at £108 million, plus wages over five years also of £108 million, making a staggering total of £216 million. Yahoo Finance! today gives Trinity Mirror a market capitalisation of £130 million and Johnston Press of £83 million, making a total of £213 million.

Trinity Mirror merges Welsh and North West divisions and makes md Dye redundant

Trinity Mirror announced today that it is merging its Media Wales, North West and North Wales divisions.
The newly formed North West and Wales division is to be headed by Sara Wilde, until now managing director of the North West and North Wales. Media Wales managing director Keith Dye was made redundant after 24 years with the group, along with Media Wales finance director Stuart Turner.
Media Wales, publishes the Western Mail, South Wales Echo, Wales on Sunday, and Celtic Weekly newspapers. Andy McGreevy, currently finance director in North West and North Wales, will become finance director of the merged division.
Georgina Harvey, managing director, Trinity Mirror Regionals, said the decision to create the new Trinity Mirror region has been taken in response to the current challenging trading conditions.
The story is running on HoldtheFrontPage and Press Gazette.

Trinity Mirror 'seeking relaxation of merger rules' claims Scotland on Sunday

Some believe the crisis in the regional newspaper industry will lead to more consolidation in 2009, with companies able to force through the same kind of mergers as the banks by claiming the only alternative to takeovers would be closure of titles.
Scotland on Sunday has run a story by Terry Murden saying that Trinity Mirror is "understood to be lobbying for a relaxation of the media ownership rules so newspaper groups can merge their regional titles".
Murden quotes analysts at JP Morgan stating: "We worry that without a relaxing of M&A (mergers and acquisitions] rules, the worsening financial situation of some newspaper publishers could eventually force them into trouble with debt and lead to more local title closures – precisely what the Government aims to avoid."

MP claims job cutting Trinity will make £25 million Liverpool Echo profit this year

Labour MP for Liverpool Walton Peter Kilfoyle has put down an Early Day Motion calling on Trinity Mirror to "halt the haemorrhaging of local jobs" at its newspapers in Liverpool.
The motion reads: "That this House is extremely concerned by the attritional reduction in jobs being made in Liverpool by Trinity Mirror; notes its current monopoly of the print media on Merseyside; understands that its flagship on Merseyside, the Liverpool Echo, is due to make a £25 million profit this year; further notes the company's reliance on local advertisers and local readers; and calls upon the company to join immediately with local hon. Members and their employees' trades union representatives to halt this haemorrhaging of local jobs."
Meanwhile, NUJ journalists at the North West Evening Mail in Barrow, part of the CN Group,
are holding a ballot on January 2 for industrial action over four job cuts which they fear will lead to increased hours for remaining staff.

Online only newspapers just 'weeks away'

Gary Andrew's posting about the death of local newspapers, which poses the question - "will any newspaper publisher be brave enough to go on-line only?" - has been picked up by media commentators around the blogosphere and prompted a really good debate.
One of the best contributions was this on Roy Greenslade's blog on MediaGuardian from "Eric Morecambe" who suggested: "The first breed of 'online only' regional or national 'newspapers' are surely just a matter of weeks or months away.
The Daily Post in Liverpool is axing its Saturday edition, but surely Trinity Mirror must have come within a whisker of scrapping it all together as a daily print title and going exclusively online? Strong brand, loyal readership, targeted market....so perhaps not such a bad idea? Or will they leave it until next autumn to free up the morning market and slap its sister paper the Echo on an overnight print run when it goes to Oldham?
Community websites are low cost but the estimated profit margins may not interest the big media companies. The industry could go full circle and return to small businesses providing our local news, features, sport, etc, for a modest but satisfying profit through community websites plus one-off print publications and other products or services such as staging community events, media training, web or graphic design, sponsored exhibitions, merchandise, etc.
Just imagine a world where shareholders don't influence decisions?
It is ironic that many of today's media strategy makers are the most fervent defenders of print journalism because of 30+ years of newsprint under their fingernails.
The audience has arguably skipped a generation. Perhaps there's a message for senior management? People say there will always be a market for newspapers. Where's that then? Woolworths?"
Roy replied: "@EricMorecambe, spot on. I think groups of journalists made redundant by big chains should think about becoming online pioneers. Didn't Rick Waghorn do that in Norwich light years ago?"

Trinity and Johnston fall out of FTSE

As expected Trinity Mirror and Johnston Press have dropped out of the FTSE 250, after the dramatic fall in their share prices over the past 12 months. Yahoo! Finance gives Trinity Mirror a market capitalisation today of £134 million and Johnston of £84 million. To put this is perspective, remember the premium prices regional newspapers used to fetch. In 1994 Northcliffe paid T. Bailey Forman £93 million for the Nottingham Evening Post. Johnston bought Regional Independent Media, which included the Yorkshire Post and related titles, in 2002 for £560 million. It followed that with a £160 million deal to buy The Scotsman titles from the Barclay brothers in 2005. What are they all worth now?

NUJ plans fight-back against job cuts and reveals '500 editorial posts lost since June'

A crisis summit meeting of NUJ union reps from across the local newspaper industry at the weekend has backed plans for a wave of protests and industrial action in the coming weeks, the union revealed today.
The planned action comes as new research figures compiled in the last seven days by the union show that more than 500 journalists posts have been axed or left unfilled at local newspaper groups since June. More than 30 local newspaper offices have been closed and 50-plus titles closed, the union says.
The NUJ has vowed to resist job cuts which it claims "damage quality, significantly increase hours and workloads, and threaten the health and welfare of journalists". A day of action against the cuts will be organised. Union reps also pledged to co-ordinate campaigns across workplaces to fight "imposed and unwarranted" pay freezes. The union has also urged editors to work alongside their journalists to defend "editorial independence and integrity".
NUJ general secretary Jeremy Dear said: “Instead of greater investment in quality online content, more localised coverage and strengthened editorial teams, for years the vast profits of local newspapers have been largely shovelled in to shareholders pockets, directors’ pay rises and executive pension pots, amidst reckless borrowing and poor investment decisions.
"Now the very people who plunged the industry into this crisis by demanding such excessive profits believe the solution is to axe journalists and freeze pay. They were spectacularly wrong in the past and are spectacularly wrong again. It is a false economy to put the ability to deliver scoops, quality content and strong local coverage in jeopardy. Local newspapers in print and online remain viable and profitable businesses. We can’t stand by and see this profiteering destroy our industry."
NUJ reps from Johnston Press, Trinity Mirror, and Newsquest have agreed to co-ordinate industrial action against compulsory redundancies; organise a union-wide day of action and a series of protests and activities against job cuts and pay freezes around "key" company and industry events; "expose instances of shareholder and management greed"; build community-based 'Stand up for Journalism' campaigns. They also plan to lobby members of the UK Parliament, Scottish Parliament and National Assemblies in Wales and Northern Ireland calling on them to back the fight to stop job cuts and save local media.

Newcastle journalists vote for action on job cuts

NUJ members working on Trinity Mirror newspapers in Newcastle have voted in favour of industrial action if compulsory redundancies are imposed.
Trinity want to cut 23 posts and close offices in North Shields and Durham. NUJ members on the Chronicle, Journal, Sunday Sun and associated weekly titles voted 85 percent in favour of strike action, and 90 per cent for action short of a strike. The chapel meets again on Tuesday. NUJ northern regional organiser Chris Morley said: “The chapel are willing to talk about restructuring but do not want anyone to be forced out of a job."

NUJ holds regional jobs crisis summit

An emergency meeting of NUJ reps from across the regional press is to be held in London tomorrow as the jobs crisis in the industry escalates with 100 editorial posts axed in one day. Yesterday, a total of 59 redundancies were announced across Trinity Mirror’s north west division, which includes 43 jobs at the company’s Liverpool titles and eight from north Wales. Telegraph Media Group has also announced plans to make cuts, which could lead to 50 jobs going and the Cumbria-based CN Group said yesterday that 30 jobs were being cut. The NUJ says the aim of Saturday's meeting is to co-ordinate a campaign against the job cuts.

Black day in British newspaper history

Barring a newspaper closing down, today must rank as one of the bleakest in the history of the British Press with job cuts being announced across the country. Just look at the headlines today on Media Guardian, Press Gazette and Hold The Front Page. '50 jobs to go at Telegraph titles,' 'Trinity Mirror to cut 78 jobs in north-west restructure,' 'Savage cuts at Times's London bureau,' 'Newsquest axes editors and publishers', 'CN Group cuts up to 30 jobs' . It is the scale of the cuts that is so frightening: 10 per cent of journalists at the Telegraph and 25 per cent at Trinity Mirror in Liverpool. And no doubt there is more to come, both on national and regional newspapers. An announcement is expected tomorrow about redundancies at the Newsquest Bradford centre. It is relentless. I covered the newspaper industry for 23 years at Press Gazette and in all that time I don't remember anything remotely as bad as this.