NUJ briefing on the future for local newspapers

November 2013

The UK local and regional press is in crisis. Nearly half of regional daily newspapers
lost print sales at a rate of more than 10 per cent year on year in the first half of
2013.
In the past decade, 20 per cent of the UKs local newspapers have closed, with only
70 new launches. According to the Newspaper Society (NS), there are 1,045 local and
regional newspapers; but in March 2011 the NS reported 1,195 titles. Giving
evidence to the Leveson Inquiry in 2011, media analyst Claire Enders estimated that
40 per cent of jobs in the UK regional press had gone over the previous five years.
She said that 1bn of annual classified advertising revenue had gone from the
regional press since 2008.
Five companies control some 75 per cent of regional daily newspaper circulation.
The regional press is dominated by the "big four": Johnston Press, Newsquest, Trinity
Mirror and Local World. Independently-owned local papers serving their community
are a rare breed.
Cuts in the numbers of journalists, the closing and mergers of titles, the move from
daily to weekly titles and the production of local newspapers many miles from the
communities they serve have all had a serious effect on the quality of local papers.
A survey of NUJ reps revealed that reporters, in many cases, no longer covered
council meetings or courts. This has a direct effect on how citizens can engage in
democratic discourse. They are being deprived of the information they require to
make judgements when voting in local elections. We need local papers to ensure
democratic scrutiny, accountability and to encourage informed and active
citizenship.
Newspapers are struggling to offset the decline in print revenue with the move to
digital. NS data shows that local media websites attract 62 million unique users each
month, but advertising revenue is not supporting it.

According to 2012 research, 61 per cent of adults read a local newspaper (British
Market Research Bureau) and local newspapers are more than twice as trusted as
any other media channel (IPA Touchpoints 4).
The NUJ believes the crisis is so severe that government intervention is required to
shore up the local news sector by subsidies, tax relief or the support of new
ownership models such as co-operatives. It believes that government must put
pressure on the Royal Bank of Scotland to do a deal with Johnson Press over its
crippling interest rates on loans and the government should look to new models
which provide funding for newspapers in return for providing a public service.
The union is also concerned that newspaper groups seem to believe that readergenerated copy is the answer. Newspaper chiefs talk about journalists as being
curators of copy. In reality this means reporters sitting at their desks pouring press
releases into pre-determined page grids. Sub-editors, the people who check copy for
accuracy, are seen as surplus to requirements. This may be a cheap model, but
readers will not be carrying out investigations or interviewing people in the
community or holding local politicians and businesses to account.

The Background
According to Press Gazette, 242 local papers shut between 2005 and the start of 2012 and
news-free zones have been created. Port Talbot, with a population of 50,000, has had no
local newspaper since 2009. Walsall, a metropolitan borough of 350,000 people, does not
have one professional journalist working there; the nearest work is more than ten miles
away in Tamworth and Cannock. Other news gaps include: Rugeley in Staffordshire,
Cannock Chase in Staffordshire, Leominster in Herefordshire and Long Eaton in Derbyshire.
Out of 406 local government areas, 100 (25 per cent) have no daily local newspaper, while
in 143 LGAs (35 per cent of the total) a single title has a 100 per cent monopoly
(unpublished data from Media Reform Coalition).
A survey of NUJ reps working for Trinity Mirror and Newsquest revealed that lack of staff
meant that council meetings and court cases were not being covered and local businesses
were not being held to account. The Press Association has closed its Lobby Extra package
which provided a House of Commons service for 15 regional titles. The service was vital, as
many regional papers -- including the Liverpool Echo, Manchester Evening News and the
Express & Star -- no longer employ staff lobby correspondents.
Johnston Presss annual reports from the five years from 2007 to 2012 revealed that the
number of full-time journalists was down by 44 per cent from 2,774 to 1,558. Mail General
Trust admitted that half of its 4,200 staff in the Northcliffe regional newspaper division had
been cut since 2008. With local and district offices being closed, reporters are working

farther from the communities they are supposed to serve. Papers are edited in "hubs": the
Berrows Worcester Journal, established in 1690, is edited across the border in Wales.
Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ general secretary, said: Readers are not stupid. They can tell
when their newspaper is being produced from a different county and in some cases
country. They can tell when they are served up rehashed, reconstituted fare. They feel
robbed when they can no longer speak to the local reporter on their patch and when their
voices go unheard.
Most regional newspaper group publishers have significant local monopolies. In Yorkshire,
Bradford and towns in Airedale such as Keighley and Skipton are Newsquest territory.
Leeds and Wakefield are covered by Johnston Press titles, as are Scarborough, the North
Yorkshire coastal towns, Halifax, the Calder Valley, Sheffield and Doncaster. Huddersfield
and the Colne Valley are served by Trinity Mirror titles. York is covered by Newsquest, while
Hull and the south bank of the Humber (north east Lincolnshire) is Local World territory.
Only around Rotherham, Doncaster and Barnsley is competition among weekly titles
significant. Similar trading conditions exist elsewhere in England.
The decline in this sector has been blamed on the transition to the internet, with a lot of
content being made free, the drop in advertising revenue caused by the recession and
falling circulations. But it is not as simple as that. By the late nineties local newspaper profit
margins ranged from a minimum of 20 per cent to 35 per cent and more. Between the start
of 2003 and the end of 2007, Media Wales's profit margins averaged 34 per cent, peaking at
38 per cent for the 12 months to the end of 2005. These profits made Media Wales one of
the most profitable companies in Wales of any kind, let alone in the media industry. The
profits were not invested in the businesses; they were being creamed off by shareholders
and used to pay newspaper executives enormous sums.
The major regional newspaper publishers have been closing presses rapidly over the past 10
years or so. In the north of England, Johnston Press has closed presses in Halifax and Leeds.
Newsquest prints the Northern Echo on Trinity Mirrors Middlesbrough Gazette presses. The
Yorkshire Post was printed in Sunderland for a period, before like all the companys
northern titles it was transferred to a press plant at Dinnington in South Yorkshire.
Mortons in Lincolnshire is said to own the only independent newspaper press between the
Central Lowlands of Scotland and the Midlands of England. Any new entrants to the
regional newspaper market must choose between the (probably prohibitively) expensive
cost of buying a new press, entering into contract arrangements with potential competitors
(who already dominate the market locally) or arranging printing outside the UK and building
import costs into their overheads from the outset.
What the journalists said

Reporters are increasingly office-bound because of the demands of the job. Each reporter
was supposed to spend half a day on their patch looking for stories. The idea was
abandoned two years ago owing to staff shortages. Managements refusal to pay staff for
reviews done in their own time theatre, comedy, restaurants, books has led to a
shortage of volunteers.

Staff are increasingly going for easy stories: those which can be filed and concluded as
quickly and with as little fuss as possible from press releases and announcements, with a
quick reaction from the end of the phone. Some good, but not explosive, stories are missed
because we do not have production staff able to make late changes to the paper. We no
longer routinely cover the transport authority. All this means that community or grassroots
news has suffered and we are becoming increasingly reliant on reader-generated news and
pictures.
Johnston Press
JP publishes more than 200 titles, including the Scotsman, Yorkshire Post, Belfast News and
Lancashire Evening Post.
Ashley Highfield, JP's chief executive, has announced a new project, a paper with 75 per
cent of its content provided by readers. He has set a target of increasing digital to 50 per
cent of total revenues by 2020.
Chris Oakley, former editor of the Liverpool Echo and later owner of the Birmingham Post
and Mail and then the Yorkshire Post, said: In the boom years the stock market valued
Johnston Press at more than 1 billion and investors and analysts applauded as the
company ran up nearly half a billion in debt. Greece, which has debts of 1.5 times its annual
GDP, looks positively stable in comparison to JP, which has debts nine times its 40 million
market value.
Between 2005 and 2007 Johnston Press spent almost 1 billion on acquisitions, including
250 million for 11 paid weeklies and 10 freesheets in rural Ireland. Two years later, it tried
to sell the titles. The best offer was less than 40 million.
Company results published in March showed that Johnston Press reduced staff numbers by
23 per cent during 2012, with 1,300 jobs going. In the latest round of cuts, the group has
opened up a group-wide voluntary redundancy programme. Many experienced journalists,
fed up with low pay and increasing workloads, are expected to apply to go.
Last year JP made an operating profit of 57 million. However its current debt is 306
million and this profit has been spent servicing the crippling loans the company has with the
banks. The banks, including RBS and Lloyds, are charging combined interest and fees worth

13 per cent annually. The Bank of England base rate, as we all know, has been 0.5% for the
past four years. Even at 6% the interest payments would still be in excess of 19m per year.
These punitive charges are strangling the company and putting hard-working and dedicated
journalists out of work. That is why the NUJ is campaigning for the banks to renegotiate
their terms.
Barry Fitzpatrick, NUJ deputy general secretary, said: Already there are serious issues over
workload and the pace at which digital change is being imposed. Revenue migration to
digital remains disappointing and seems to be driven by a mistaken belief that it will come
right in the end. The root cause of this crisis is the scale of the group's indebtedness and the
draconian terms under which the banks, including RBS, have structured the loans. Given the
responsibility that the banks have for the loans, it is time that the terms were reviewed so
that instead of strangling the company the money can be used to restore the trading
performance and allow for real growth."
Newsquest
Newsquest publishes more than 200 newspapers, magazines and trade publications,
including 17 paid-for dailies. Its titles such as The Herald (Glasgow), Northern Echo
(Darlington), Telegraph & Argus (Bradford), Evening Times (Glasgow), Southern Daily Echo
(Southampton), The Argus (Brighton), The Press (York), Oxford Mail and South Wales Argus
(Newport).
The latest ABC newspaper audit figures showed that more than half of Newsquests dailies
circulations dropped by more than 10 per cent. The Brighton Arguss circulation collapsed
by 25.8 per cent compared with the corresponding period in 2012. Media pundit Roy
Greenslade blamed the increase in cover price. He said: The Northern Echo went up by 15p
on weekdays and 10p on Saturdays at the beginning of June. The result was an immediate
sales plunge.
Better news is that these titles showed improving online readerships. The Argus recorded a
33.4 per cent increase in daily unique browsers to its website and Northern Echo a 25.5 per
cent increase. But Greenslades overall analysis on the group was: Newsquest editors and
journalists be warned. The company isn't trying to sell newspapers. It is trying to make as
much money as possible before it kills off the golden goose.
Newsquest is owned by the American company Gannett. In February this year it announced
a bumper pay-out to shareholders. Gracia Martore, president and CEO of Gannett, said:
We remain on track to return approximately $1.3 billion to shareholders through dividends
and share repurchases by 2015." Yet its staff have had a pay freeze for four of the past five
years. Typically a journalist working for the group can earn 21,000, once they have
qualified as a senior reporter with two years' experience. Paul Davidson, the outgoing chief

executive, was paid 557,175 in 2012 and he and his fellow four directors took
"performance related" payments of 297,000.
Newsquest employs 1,387 staff down five per cent on last year. This summer, the NUJ was
forced to ballot for strike action at NQs Scottish titles, The Herald, Sunday Herald and
Evening Times, over compulsory redundancies. Paul Holleran, NUJ organiser in Scotland,
said: Gannett has a total revenue of 848m yet they want to keep on cutting jobs and make
compulsory redundancies on what are nearly statutory terms."
Newsquest is moving production of papers in the North-east to Newport. If the plan goes
ahead, the Darlington-based Northern Echo edited 270 miles away from its community.
Papers affected by the plan include The Press, York and the Bradford Telegraph and Argus
along with sister weeklies such as the Craven Herald, Ilkley Gazette and Wharefdale
Observer, Keighley News, Durham Times and Darlington and Stockton Times. More than 20
jobs have been put at risk. The move comes two months after Newsquest axed its
production hub in Worcester with the loss of 15 jobs, with some of the work transferred to
the Newport hub.
Trinity Mirror
Titles include: Liverpool Echo, Liverpool Daily Post, Manchester Evening News, Newcastle
Journal, Evening Chronicle, Western Mail, Birmingham Mail, Birmingham Post, Coventry
Telegraph and the Paisley Daily Express. Trinity Mirror Southern includes titles such as the
Surrey Herald, Staines News Buckinghamshire Advertiser, Uxbridge Gazette, Ealing Gazette,
Harrow Observer, Surrey Advertiser. TM North West titles include: Stockport Express,
Stockport Times, Sale & Altrincham Advertiser, Stretford & Urmston Advertiser, Macclesfield
Express, Wilmslow Express, Salford Advertiser, Rossendale Free Press, Accrington Advertiser,
Tameside Advertiser, Oldham Advertiser. TM also owns five national papers: the Daily and
Sunday Mirror and People and the Daily Record and Sunday Mail.
Sly Bailey was Trinity Mirror's chief executive for almost a decade, joining the company in
2003. When she left last year, with a 900,000 pay-off, she had pocketed more than 14
million, despite the workforce being cut by a half and a share price that plummeted by 90
per cent during her tenure.
In a letter to shareholders of Trinity Mirror, just before Baileys departure, Michelle
Stanistreet, NUJ general secretary, said: "Trinity Mirror owns some of the best-known and
respected newspaper titles in the UK. In 2003, when Sly Bailey took over as chief executive,
it was a FTSE 250 company worth more than 1billion and with a share price of 380p. Now,
less than ten years later, the same CEO presides over a company that is a shadow of its
former self with a share price of 30p. Failure on an industrial scale by Ms Bailey has
brought at least four years of no dividends for shareholders and misery for the workforce.

She has axed more than half of all jobs during her reign. The company's strength has ebbed
away as she has consistently chopped away at the core business: its journalists and the
quality journalism they produce.
Baileys successor, Simon Fox, announced cuts of 10m this March. The group is in the
process of cutting 92 jobs from its regional newspaper titles and creating 52 new jobs split
between its national and regional titles. A net reduction of 66 regional press journalists and
an increase of 26 jobs at national level is proposed. A shared content unit is proposed in
Liverpool which will produce non-local content for regionals. Neil Benson, editorial director,
said: Our newsrooms have made great progress in embracing the digital world in recent
years but, essentially, our processes have remained print-led. This new approach is a bold,
imaginative step that will enable us to become a fully-fledged, digitally-focused news
operation and brings together for the first time the best of our regional and national
journalism.
Local World
Local World was created in November 2012 by the merger of the Northcliffe regional
newspaper group and Iliffe News and Media. Northcliffe owner Daily Mail and General Trust
was paid 52m and took a 38.7 per cent stake in the company. Iliffe owner Yattendon has a
21.3 per cent stake in the business. Trinity Mirror paid 14.2m for a 20 per cent share. Local
World has no presses and no pension-fund liabilities (these have been retained by DMGT).
With 110 newspapers, it is the third biggest publisher of local papers. Titles include: the
Bristol Post, Western Daily Press, Croydon Advertiser, Leicester Mercury and the
Nottingham Post.
Local World may be the new kid on the block, but its founder David Montgomery is an old
hand. He was editor of the News of the World and Today then spent seven years as chief
executive of Trinity Mirror, where he presided over major cuts to the company. In 2000
Montgomery founded the European publisher Mecom. A decade later he was forced out
after a shareholder revolt; the companys shares jumped by 50 per cent at the news of his
resignation. He moved from chair to chief executive last month (October) after Steve
Auckland, the former group chief executive of Northcliffe Media, resigned from the post.
In May, Press Gazette reported: Speaking to MPs on the Culture, Media and Sport select
committee, Montgomery said the role of journalists would change so that they become
harvesters of content. We are going to have to reinvent the model, he told the committee.
We cant keep taking costs out but employ the same production techniques in print. We
have to be truly digital, so that in three or four years from now, much of our human
interface will have disappeared. We will have to harvest content and publish it without
human interface, which will change the role of journalists. He said he wanted to see a 20fold increase in content and that he would phase out sub-editors. Steve Auckland described

Local World as a content and commerce organisation and said it had an editorial staff of
980 people.
Local World made 7 million in its first three months and says it expects to make 30 million
in the full year. It has already closed two of its newspapers, the Loughborough Mercury and
Bedford Midweek.
In a 2,000-word-plus "essay" David Montgomery, chief executive of Local World, spelt out
his vision for the future in a jargon-laden mission statement which reduced newspapers to
notice boards and has killed the sub-editor, photographer and investigative journalist.
Barry Fitzpatrick, NUJ deputy general secretary, said:
"This is a very dangerous vision. What he appears to be suggesting is that the police,
schools, Tesco and other organisations can put their press releases directly into the local
paper, without verification or comment.
"To take copy in this way denies readers a balanced coverage of the story and is an open
invitation to vested-interest journalism. All organisations will be able to promote their
propaganda unhindered. I cannot see that the public would want to pay for a notice board
of organisations' press releases and there are already signs that advertisers are not
convinced either.
"It is deeply offensive to our members and workers on Local World titles for him to describe
what they do as a 'medium-grade craft' which can be done by 12-year-olds. Journalists have
a vital role in the local community, reporting on what is happening in people's lives, holding
to account local politicians, businesses and local services and providing court reports. It was
a local journalist who exposed the scandal at the Mid-Staffs hospital.
"Presumably Montgomery's 'content harvesters' will be too busy producing a 20-fold
increase in content, supplied by readers and non-journalists, to do investigative journalism.
They will be expected to 'skim online content' and put it into pre-determined grids, without
the time to check for accuracy or balance.They will not be expected to do time-consuming
investigative journalism. He makes it clear that he thinks producing a paper this way can be
done by a handful of people or in the case of smaller newspapers single-handed.
"It also appears there is no place for professional photographers in Montgomery's vision.
Readers will be able to tell the difference between pictures taken by their local
photographer who works within their community and random snaps taken on mobile phone
cameras sent in by the public.
"He talks about 'the dynamic evolution of content to suit the needs of the community and
also its business and advertisers'. This implies that 'content' will be viewed through the
commercial prism of what attracts hits and brings in advertisers. Stories which challenge the
consensus (if there was any time to produce them) would not be welcome. So campaigns
against unwanted supermarkets and unwanted building developments would not be
covered.
"Look behind the jargon and all we have is Montgomery of old. This is not a brave new
vision of journalism, this is just his hackneyed trick of cutting editorial to the bone.

"The NUJ wants to be part of the future of the industry and its technical developments. That
is why we putting together a digital charter which makes sure that changes are made
through consultation and that high quality journalism remains at the heart of all newspapers
and their websites."
Excerpts from Montgomery's essay:
"After training the journalist will assume control of a segment or segments of content. He will
singly be responsible for sourcing this content, collecting it and publishing it across all
platforms.
"The majority of this content will be produced by third party contributors and some examples
are given below. The senior journalist will negotiate with the providers of the content and
organise its collection usually by self-serve by the provider. The journalist will have the task
of providing attractive formats for this third party content in the first instance online and for
constantly monitoring the content to instigate its promotion to a position of prominence on
any platform or in some cases eliminating it.
"The tradition of journalist shifts will be abandoned. The specialist segment journalist - and
there will be no other category of journalist excepting content managers - will cover his
content territory autonomously within the brief of the local publisher and he will work
remotely. Clearly neither the content nor its providers are situated in the newspaper office.
"The journalist will embody all the traditional skills of reporter, sub-editor, editor-in-chief,
as well as online agility and basic design ability, acquired partly in training but in the case of
on-screen capability this is expected as a basic entry qualification as it is now generally
present in most 12-year-olds
"This same model can be applied to all content segments: hospitals and general health and
care, education and every school, businesses large and small, sport at all levels,
entertainment and culture. This is very different from the traditional perception of UGC,
usually associated with individuals who will still have a part to play but usually as
professionals inside an institution like a college, a company or a leisure or sports activity."
Full text of essay: http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/content/who-needs-sub-editors-readdavid-montgomerys-latest-unsubbed-2200-word-missive-future-local
Pay & conditions
The wages on local papers are extremely low. Newsquest has had a pay freeze for four of
the past five years. Typically a journalist working for the group can earn 21,000, once they
have qualified as a senior reporter with two years' experience. In one case, a reporter had to
beg a hand-out from a news editor to enable her to cover an important story because she
could not afford to put petrol in her car. A senior journalist revealed to the NUJ that she was
spending half of her net weekly pay on child care.
NUJ reps have reported that trainee journalists in Yorkshire are paid 7 pence above the
living wage. Journalists in Cheshire and Merseyside can earn as little as 14,500. At one
newspaper group in London, "trainees" who may have worked there for years were on

around 16,000, which is just over the London living wage. They did not receive London
weighting. Another high-profile local paper in the capital pays 18,000.
The NUJ is concerned at how some of the new digital technology has been introduced. The
union can see that the future is digital, but for it to succeed the transitions needs to be
properly planned. Some of the systems being adopted are not fit for purpose. The union will
be launching a digital charter to ensure that proper procedures are followed and that staff
are not subject to unfair and unworkable shift patterns. These systems are being introduced
nationally by the newspaper groups, but these managements refuse to speak to the NUJ at a
national level.
The future of local papers
The NUJ believes that journalists should be at the heart of their local communities, speaking
and listening to their readers. It believes there is a strong future for local papers, which
enjoy high levels of trust among their readers. Yet the sector is in a precarious position.
When times were good, the newspaper chiefs squeezed profits, made unwise acquisitions,
built up debts and failed to invest in journalism. Year-on-year cuts, pay freezes and
increased workloads have created low morale among newspaper staff. The transition to
digital is fraught with danger and it appears that professional journalism, community
journalism and investigative journalism could be casualties. There is a real danger that local,
campaigning newspapers will wither on the vine. The NUJ believes that the model is not
bust: local papers need to rediscover their local roots, so that local advertisers know they
are reaching their market and readers can see that reporters are working on their patch as a
watchdog and friend.
The NUJ is campaigning to save our local media and supported a series of events with Cooperatives UK and Carnegie UK Trust to look at how good journalism could still be funded.
The NUJ believes that the Localism Act 2011 should be amended to give local papers
protected status as community assets. This would prevent newspaper titles closing
overnight and give potential new owners, including local co-operatives, the time to put
together a bid for the paper. Newspaper groups should not be allowed to close a paper and
lock away a title that has resonance among its local community. There is also need for
legislation which would prevent newspaper owners from refusing to offer their titles for sale
before closing them.
The NUJ believes that the government must open an inquiry into the future of local papers.
This would:

explore how the government could support new models of ownership, such as cooperatives and community ownership by readers.

investigate how government subsidies and tax advantages could work for local
newspapers.

look at how local papers can be funded or part-funded on a public service model. If
local papers are to receive public subsidies, they would need to prove they can meet
a public benefit test. We think it would be easy to comply with tangible outcomes,
such as a commitment to reporting council meetings, courts and providing a forum
for the local community.

investigate the use of industry levies. For example, a 1 per cent levy on pay TV
operators such as Sky and Virgin Media would bring in around 80 million a year. A
similar fee imposed on the countrys five major mobile operators could generate
208 million a year.

NUJ policy
FUTURE OF THE MEDIA (DM2012)
This DM believes that the regional newspaper industry under its current ownership in the
UK is in the process of terminal decline, a process being hastened by the adoption of
"common pages" throughout the titles of big newspaper groups further threatening local
journalism, unless government at all levels is prepared to intervene. Iliffe News and Media
is an example of such a group where the future of some of the papers is in question.
This DM expresses major concern at the worsening crisis in regional newspapers; the impact
this is having on members' jobs; and the growing trend for corporate newspaper owners to
withdraw from entire areas and to decimate those titles which remain. This has already led
to many title closures and is likely to lead to more.
This DM further condemns those newspaper owners who refuse to offer titles for sale
before closing them, and calls for legislation that would oblige them to do so.
This DM therefore instructs the NEC to organise research into (a) which regional ewspapers
are prospering best, with particular regard to their ownership structure; and (b) how the
NUJ can provide advice to local member-led initiatives such as community interest
companies to preserve or launch local titles when a corporate owner proves unable to
nurture them.
DM instructs the NEC to launch a campaign to lobby all levels of government in the UK
with a view to implementing a strategy aimed at securing the industry's survival. This could
include the securing of guaranteed revenue through public sector advertising and direct
injection of public funds, on the principle of supporting a social good, in return for clear
commitments by recipient companies on maintaining or improving editorial resources
to protect quality local journalism rather than boosting profitability.
This strategy could also involve measures such as the declaration of newspapers, including
their title, heritage and brand, as national and community assets via the new Localism Act
and supporting the formation of not-for-profit entities to take over the ownership of
newspapers. This could be aided by companies that close newspaper titles being forced to
relinquish the ownership of those titles as intangible assets after a reasonable period
following closure.
The Localism Act, while a miserly piece of legislation designed by the coalition
government to undermine local public services, does enable local authorities to list "assets

of community value" that would have special status if their continuity was under threat
from closure; and DM takes the view that the provision of news is a vital service whose
survival is more important than who owns the news providers; and that therefore there is a
need for newspapers to be granted some form of statutory protection.
This DM therefore believes local newspapers and other media put at risk by large corporate
owners who expect an unrealistic profit to be generated might be suitable to have the
status of "community assets" conferred on them.
This DM therefore instructs the NEC to campaign, in conjunction with the NUJ parliamentary
group, and appropriate industrial councils, group chapels and local chapels, for the
definition of "community assets" in the Localism Act to be extended to include local media,
a move that would remove the right of owners to close down titles overnight and provide a
breathing space before closure when co-operative and other ventures would have the
opportunity to buy them. Such a campaign would be styled "Save Our Newspapers, Save
Quality Journalism".
This DM welcomes the NUJ-sponsored motion on the future of journalism in Scotland
passed unanimously at this years STUC in Inverness; and instructs the NEC to campaign
vigorously, together with the Scottish Executive Council and other union bodies, for the
setting up of a Scottish-Government-backed Commission into the Future of the Media in
Scotland, as outlined in the motion.
STAFF ON REMUNERATION BOARDS
This DM believes that with the future of quality journalism at greater risk than ever, the
living standards of our members rapidly eroding, and job losses in the industry continuing to
mount, excessive executive pay needs to be tackled urgently. Current arrangements can no
longer be tolerated in a society that purports to be civilised and measures must be
introduced to provide a check to a system that encourages - and rewards - greed rather than
long term success.
This DM congratulates Trinity Mirror Group Chapel for its campaign against boardroom
greed which culminated in a shareholder revolt and resignation of Sly Bailey. Her ten-year
tenure as chief executive was marked by relentless cost-cutting that sacrificed hundreds of
journalists' jobs while she amassed more than 14 million in pay and bonuses - a gross
distortion that eventually led to shareholders controlling 100 million company shares
deciding this year not to back the directors' remuneration report. Huge rewards for failure
and the destruction of journalism must not be allowed again.
This DM believes one of the best ways to aid this is to link chief executive remuneration in
media companies to that of their employees and to ensure that employees have a say over
pay at the top.
DM therefore instructs the NEC to campaign both within and externally for the introduction
of legislation in the UK that would oblige companies to include at least one elected
employee representative on their remuneration committee and publish the multiples of pay
that the chief executive enjoys over the median salary for that company's workforce.