Newspapers Struggle as Credit Crunch Continues to Bite

January 2009:
IT’S not been a happy Christmas for those working in the media industry as journalists working for local papers have been laid off in droves.
One such firm is Northcliffe Media who have been looking into ways of saving money with some losing their jobs and even having wages frozen.

Northcliffe, who own various media titles across the country spent six months this year visiting their outlets and deciding what to do to slash the ongoing financial trouble it faces.
One of the reasons local media is struggling is due the property market falling. Estate agents are going bust and not investing in advertising properties in the newspapers.

It is thought subs – those who check what is written before it is submitted – are first in line for the chop with reporters already being told to be more careful with their writing.

In Exeter at the Express & Echo some staff have had their wages frozen and in Tiverton, despite promising sales figures, Crediton reporter Tim Hall was made redundant before Christmas. Lucy Gooding who helped at the Gazette said: “They're all so stressed out it's unreal. Now that Tim's gone, there's no one really covering Crediton.”

The effect this will have on the quality of newspapers across the country is yet to be seen, but if companies continue to keep struggling we may see further cuts and the possibility of some papers going out of business or merging to form much larger regions for what would be our not so local papers.


March 2009:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7958553.stm
The BBC's article about Northcliffe got a mention on the Six O'Clock news today.(March 24).