UK: Newspaper job cuts continue

Posted by John Burke on November 30, 2005 at 1:26 PM

It is well known that American newspapers have been rapidly shedding jobs as of late, the latest being at the Orlando Sentinel which will lose 21 employees and leave 33 vacant positions unfilled. Over the past month, that epidemic has jumped the puddle to the UK.

In October, the huge publisher Trinity Mirror announced a New York Times-style job reduction program saying it was considering axing 550 to 770 jobs, or 5% to 7% of its 11,000 employees.

At the beginning of November, the Scottish national The Scotsman initiated its own employee scale back program announcing at least 8 journalists would be let go.

The latest news comes the Guardian Media Group Regional Newspapers which is to cut 48 jobs, 13 of which will be editorial. Its entertainment and listings magazine City Life is to be cancelled because of weak advertising.

The group's CEO explained, "We have struggled to publish this magazine at a profit for the last 15 years and given the downturn in the market we do not believe we can produce the title profitably in the foreseeable future."

To make matters worse for regional newspapers in the UK, the Daily Mail Group and General Trust PLC are considering selling its regional newspaper business, again because of the weak advertising market.

Sources: Orlando Sentinel, Hold the Front Page, Interactive Investor

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