I wrote in the Crikey e-mail today about some forthcoming cuts and redundancies at News Limited.
Since then the boss (Jonathan Green) has reported on his blog that the magic number they are cutting may be 800.
I don’t know where he got that number from. My contacts haven’t put a figure on it. But the boss is, of course, always right.
What I am hearing is that there will be restructuring as well as cuts, with increased pressure for syndication across the titles. Also that some in senior management are arguing for The Australian to lose some of its special status in the group, and be prepared to muck in with everyone else when it comes to providing copy for use across the group. But I wouldn’t put this higher than informed speculation from middle management types at the moment.
Working on it.
One Comment
Margaret, The Guardian is now reporting cuts at News Ltd in London of up to 200 (though possible closer to 100). Mostly from The Times and the Sunday Times, apparently; The Sun is obviously much more profitable.
See: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/jan/30/news-international-papers-braced-for-job-cuts
Also, your blogging rival at The Age, Matthew Ricketson, has denials from News and more from MEAA on the ‘voluntary redundancies’ being offered at the Australian titles.
See: http://blogs.theage.com.au/mediamatters/archives/2009/01/what_will_happe.html
Love following this, Margaret. Keep up the great work.