Employees become owners of own paper

Posted by Betsey Reinsborough on November 6, 2009 at 1:06 PM

The employees at the West Highland Free Press have just become their own boss. Last week, the ten employees officially became shareholders in the trust that owns the paper, making the Free Press the first newspaper in Britain to be owned by its employees, reports the Guardian.

In contrast to publications such as BusinessWeek and the Chicago Sun-Times that have been sold to outside proprietors recently, The Free Press has become employee-owned. The switch in ownership follows eighteen months of negotiations.

The paper has experienced a slight loss in subscribers lately, though it feels that it will soon make a recovery. This optimism comes mostly from lack of competition from the internet in rural Scotland. In fact, the paper simply offers samples and headlines from its paper on its web site rather than complete new stories.

The weekly, which covers the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, has always been progressive. Founded in 1972 as a forthright, left-wing news source, the paper is still viewed by many as a radical news source. Its main causes include promoting the Gaelic language and environmental and land reforms.

This move by the Free Press is an interesting take on the changing face of the newspaper business. With this new employee-owned paper, as well as the slew of non-profit papers being announced, such as the Texas Tribune which debuted this week, questions are being raised about the necessity of retaining traditional methods of company organization. Is it essential to have a traditionally structured newsroom any longer? Do papers have to transform and evolve themselves to keep up with the changes in the news industry? Or is the current shift in structure going to help to create a healthy balance of news reportage?

Source: The Guardian