More than 300 redundancies are planned at Reach plc amid a huge reorganisation of its editorial operation.
The publisher of national brands the Daily Mirror and Daily Express, as well as local titles including the Manchester Evening News and Liverpool Echo, informed staff on Monday of 321 planned redundancies.
There are around 600 editorial jobs at risk, but 135 new roles will be created to service a live news network and expanded audio and video offering. Reach said affected employees would be given priority when it came to applications for the newly created roles.
Initial details of the reorganisation were revealed late last month. The new departments are Live News Network, led by Paul Rowland; Brands, led by Tom Hunt; Audience, led by Ellen Stewart; Content Hub, led by Jon Livesey; Sport, led by Jake Murtagh; Growth, led by David Bartlett; and Newsroom Operations, led by Stacy Denton.
In July Reach, which employed more than 2,300 editorial staff at the end of last year, revealed plans to make around 40 redundancies across its sports editorial team, with the National Union of Journalists highlighting its concern that AI would be used to “fill the resulting gap”.
A few roles will also be cut across other departments, such as commercial and human resources.
David Higgerson, chief content officer at Reach, said: “Our new structure represents the biggest reorganisation we’ve ever undertaken, even more than in the early days of the digital revolution.
“The changes we are seeing in the landscape right now demand a wholesale change in how we operate and how we tell stories.
“For our editorial teams, we will need to adopt a different way of working from top to bottom, as we match our resources to our ambitions.
“It will mean that some jobs will sadly no longer exist, many will change and around 135 new roles will be created, many in our live news network and video teams.”
He said that the changes would see the “middle bench” of mid-level executives work more closely with the design and subbing teams on national publications, “allowing for more content sharing and streamlined designs”.
Chris Morley, the national Reach co-ordinator at the National Union of Journalists, responded: “Yet again, morale is being dragged down by the threat of mass redundancies of journalists whose only crime is to work hard and strive to reach massive audiences with quality journalism each day.
“The thought that any media business can afford to shed hundreds of talented journalists to secure its future makes you wonder what sort of future that will be.
“The scale of today’s announcement, while trailed by Reach, comes as a devastating body blow to staff who have done all that is asked of them and more in the last year to make a success of this business.
“The latest strategy to the digital promised land does come with some attractive pledges but we are sceptical that the way to develop the group’s distinctive and popular brands such as The Mirror, Express, Daily Star and a host of major regional titles is to cut a swathe through their ranks of specialist writers.”
Former chief revenue officer Piers North (pictured) was recently appointed chief executive after Jim Mullen departed in March to lead horse racing firm The Jockey Club.