The Daily Telegraph challenged by modernizing newsroom

Posted by Jean Yves Chainon on November 13, 2006 at 1:44 PM

The Daily Telegraph’s freshly appointed youthful editor, Will Lewis, won his first battle on Friday Nov. 10th. Employees decided to postpone a strike that would have threatened the British newspaper in the birth of its entirely remodelled 6000 square meter hub newsroom.

“Newspapers, and those who work for them, have to evolve if they are to survive in an increasingly competitive environment,” Lewis said earlier last week. “That means being more flexible about how and when we work.”

Among the planned reforms disputed between management and staff was mandatory work for production staff on Saturdays, or early-riser shifts with no extra pay. In the end, management conceded to remove those requirements from staffer contracts.

Internal rifts at the Telegraph root deeper though, as one staffer commented that « it’s not so much the shifts» causing trouble, rather than the daily fear of losing their job.

The Telegraph cut 100 employees last year. Another 133, including 54 journalists, were laid off in the months of September and October. In a year, the Telegraph trimmed roughly a quarter of its staff (link in French).
The upcoming results of Lewis at the head of the traditionally conservative Telegraph can serve as lesson to all modernizing newspapers, concerned about maintaining positive management-staff relations, as well as a quality publication.

Source : The Independent - Liberation

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