News International cuts editorial jobs
12 Feb 2009
Rupert Murdoch-owned News International London is cutting 65 editorial jobs across its four national titles, as part of an efficiency drive.
News International is expected to make a round of cuts with production staff on the four titles understood to be targeted for redundancies as the publisher looks to further integrate online and print subbing.
Titled Efficiency and Effectiveness Review in Editorial, Murdoch's memo said, "While other companies are caught in the vicious circle of cutbacks, which ultimately affects the quality of their products, we will be building on the success we have achieved during the past year by remembering that outstanding journalism is at the heart of our success.
"The Effectiveness and Efficiency Review in Editorial has been carried out since September and has involved senior editorial staff from all titles. We have identified areas where we can improve efficiency and speed up the production of our titles and web sites. This will allow us to strengthen editorial by reinvesting savings into our titles."
The more profitable Sun would lose fewer staff than other titles, while The Times is expected to bear the brunt of the cuts.
News Corp's chairman and chief executive, Rupert Murdoch, said that as a result of the "grim economic climate" the company would be "implementing rigorous cost-cutting across all operations and reducing head count where appropriate".
The cuts are being made at the Sunday Times, The Times, The Sun and the News of the World, predominantly in production.
A spokeswoman for News International stressed the job cuts were not part of a cost-cutting exercise but followed an attempt to streamline a lot of processes at the company. She said all savings would be ploughed back into the editorial budget.
Each newspaper will lose around 15 staff, with 20 expected to go from the Sunday Times.
According to reports many of the job losses will come from the merging of print and web production with The Times' print and online picture merging. Its two separate design desks will also become a single unit.