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A US-OWNED British regional newspaper group renewed its vicious attack on staff yesterday by axing jobs in Oxford.
Newsquest, which is part of United States conglomerate Gannet, has sacked newspaper workers at centres across Britain, including Worcester, Darlington, Bradford, York, Southampton, Brighton, Warrington, Glasgow and Blackburn.
The work of production teams at the centres are being transferred to a “hub” at Newport in Wales.
Oxford is the latest target, where 25 jobs are under threat.
Newsquest is also sacking its staff photographers, among them National Union of Journalists (NUJ) representative Bob Smith, based in Keighley in Yorkshire.
He said: “Readers will have newspapers filled with reader-generated content and amateur photographs.
“I will miss my daily contact with the citizens of Keighley and its surrounding areas, but I won’t miss the myopic management madness Newsquest employees have to contend with.”
Newsquest has frozen wages, but the NUJ said the group’s chief executive last year took a 9.5 per cent pay rise on a salary equivalent to 25 journalists’ wages.
NUJ national organiser Laura Davison, said: “Newsquest’s previous cost-cutting record speaks for itself and now more journalists are facing the chop. This is not building a sustainable future for the business. The announcement of these cuts was made a week before an industry summit called by the government to ensure a vibrant future for the local and regional press. Culture Secretary Ed Vaizey has called together industry figures and union representatives to discuss future strategy and this sends out a very poor signal.”
