Guardian Media locals downsize
Posted by Simon Day on March 11, 2009 at 11:07 AM
As Guardian Media Group opens new online doors in the form of an open source software platform, physicals doors continue to shut at the group's regional papers, according to paidContent.
In the Manchester area, 150 jobs are under threat at the Manchester Evening News, Channel M and 23 free and paid-for weekly newspapers published by Guardian Media Group. Further, all Guardian Media Manchester weekly newspaper offices will be closed and staff relocated to the media group's central Manchester offices.
In the Manchester area, 150 jobs are under threat at the Manchester Evening News, Channel M and 23 free and paid-for weekly newspapers published by Guardian Media Group. Further, all Guardian Media Manchester weekly newspaper offices will be closed and staff relocated to the media group's central Manchester offices.
Both are fierce moves as the Manchester Evening News will lose more than 40 percent of its newsroom staff of 90, and the office closures amount to an added 44 mile (78 kilometer) commute for those who work for the Accrington Observer and live in the town.
The MEN has described the decision as one "designed to protect the business and its journalism for the future through a new model with significantly lower fixed costs." Staff costs form the largest outgoing cost, but the paper says job cuts are unavoidable. And while the current redundancies are being offered as voluntary, compulsory cuts have not been ruled out.
More cost cutting at the MEN sees the distribution of fewer free copies in the city centre and a reduction in the number of pages.
The MEN has described the decision as one "designed to protect the business and its journalism for the future through a new model with significantly lower fixed costs." Staff costs form the largest outgoing cost, but the paper says job cuts are unavoidable. And while the current redundancies are being offered as voluntary, compulsory cuts have not been ruled out.
More cost cutting at the MEN sees the distribution of fewer free copies in the city centre and a reduction in the number of pages.
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