They need the journalists
ALL EYES wre on Chris Morley, the union’s senior organiser for the north of England as he spoke at a special meeting on the future of newspapers organised by the Birmingham Press Club.
A panel of the top media people from the English midlands, including the editors of the Birmingham Post and Mail and local BBC and ITV chiefs, spoke of the need to maintain journalistic standards through the process of digital integration.
Chris Morley challenged the editors with his assertion that spending cuts meant there were too few journalists to carry through the changes properly. “The union and its members realise that digital holds opportunities and that’s where the growth is,” he said. “But the great tragedy is the way Trinity Mirror, the monopoly owners of the newspapers in the Birmingham area, have gone about it, getting rid of 70 journalists in the process.
“Our members are not convinced that it will work because, with the best will in the world, there simply won’t be enough journalists to deal with all the tasks and platforms that Trinity Mirror want them to serve.”