Reach to Cut 321 Editorial Jobs in Biggest Shake-Up Yet
Britain’s biggest news publisher faces its sharpest overhaul to date, axing 321 editorial roles while betting on live video, AI-driven workflows and a new round-the-clock news network.
LONDON — Reach plc, Britain’s largest commercial news publisher, is to cut 321 editorial roles and create 135 new positions in video and live news, in what executives describe as the company’s “biggest reorganisation ever.” The changes will mean a net loss of 186 jobs across national and regional titles including the Daily Mirror, Daily Express, and Manchester Evening News.
The announcement marks the most dramatic shift yet in Reach’s decade-long effort to adapt to digital realities. It comes as audiences drift further from traditional websites, social platforms retreat from news, and artificial intelligence now reshapes how stories are discovered and monetised.
A Digital Bet at Scale
At the centre of the overhaul is a Live News Network, designed to produce real-time video and text updates across Reach’s portfolio. A production hub in Australia will extend coverage overnight, creating a near-continuous news cycle.
David Higgerson, Reach’s chief content officer, framed the move as survival. “We cannot stand still while audience habits change and AI reshapes how people discover content,” he said. “These new roles will strengthen our ability to deliver video and live coverage across platforms.”
New editorial structures will group teams into eight departments, consolidating design, production, and sub-editing. The idea, executives argue, is to strip duplication, focus resources on growth areas, and give audiences the immediacy they increasingly demand.
Union Anger and Staff Uncertainty
The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) has condemned the plans, calling them a “devastating body blow” to staff morale. While Reach insists those losing jobs will be prioritised for the new roles, journalists warn that few print-based reporters will easily transition into video-led news production.
“Once again journalists are being asked to pay the price for strategic mistakes. Communities will lose distinctive coverage and readers will lose trust in local voices.”
Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ general secretary
Internally, hundreds of staff have been told their positions are at risk. “Morale is rock bottom,” said one regional reporter, speaking anonymously. “We’re being asked to reapply for jobs that don’t resemble what we signed up for.”
The Numbers Behind the Cuts
- 321 editorial jobs cut
- 135 new posts created (mainly in live news and video)
- Net editorial loss: 186 roles
- Up to 600 staff “at risk” before redeployment
- £96.5m profit reported in 2024
While Reach remains profitable, revenues continue to decline. Advertising, long its core, has been battered by Google and Facebook’s dominance, compounded by recent algorithm changes that reduced referral traffic to news sites.
Digital revenue growth has slowed too. Despite investing in subscriptions and reader revenue, Reach lags behind rivals like The Times and The Telegraph in paywall uptake.
A Decade of Cuts and Consolidation
This latest restructure follows several earlier waves:
- 2020: 550 jobs cut as Covid-19 gutted advertising.
- 2021: 300 further roles lost in “efficiency drives.”
- 2023: 450 editorial and commercial positions axed.
Each round has been billed as transformational, yet Reach’s market value has halved in five years. Its shares, once buoyed by digital optimism, now trade at historic lows.
The company’s print portfolio — still vast, with over 100 local titles and major nationals — remains structurally challenged. Print circulations fall by double digits each year. Even the Mirror, once selling 5m copies a day, now prints fewer than 300,000.
Shifting Audience Patterns
Executives cite two external shocks driving the latest changes:
1. Platform retreat from news. Meta and X/Twitter have reduced emphasis on journalism, depriving publishers of referral traffic.
2. AI disruption. Tools like ChatGPT now answer questions directly, often without passing users to source websites. Publishers fear their content will be consumed but not monetised.
Higgerson has been candid about the threat: “AI is already altering how readers reach us. We must build formats that thrive in this environment, not fight against it.”
Case Study: Manchester Evening News
For Reach’s flagship regional brand, the Manchester Evening News (MEN), the restructure is particularly sensitive. The MEN has historically dominated Greater Manchester with deep local reporting. Under the new plan, much of its production will be centralised.
Reporters worry that local distinctiveness will be diluted. “We’ve always been the paper of record here,” said one MEN journalist. “If production is pulled into hubs, we risk becoming just another feed in the network.”
Reach insists local coverage will remain. Yet resources will tilt toward live breaking news, video, and national-interest stories — raising questions about who will scrutinise council budgets, local crime patterns, or NHS trusts.
A High-Risk Reallocation
Industry analysts see Reach’s move as a high-stakes bet. Enders Analysis described the plan as “a necessary but risky reallocation,” warning that scaling video quickly could prove expensive, while centralisation risks hollowing out local trust.
One scenario: the Live News Network proves popular, giving Reach a product to pitch to advertisers and subscribers alike. Another: audiences, saturated with video elsewhere, show little loyalty, leaving Reach with fewer reporters and a weakened brand.
Comparisons Abroad
The shake-up mirrors trends overseas:
US: Gannett, owner of USA Today, has repeatedly slashed local reporting staff while investing in centralised digital content and video.
Germany: Axel Springer has pushed aggressively into digital subscriptions, pairing job cuts with investment in paid content at Bild and Die Welt.
Nordics: Schibsted has succeeded with hybrid subscription models, though at smaller scale.
Reach’s challenge is tougher. Unlike The Times or Financial Times, its tabloids and regionals have never been premium brands that audiences would readily pay for.
The Investor View
Markets remain sceptical. Reach’s stock fell nearly 6% on the day of the announcement. Analysts cite uncertainty over execution, particularly whether new video products can offset declining print and display advertising.
Yet some see potential. “If Reach can repurpose its scale into a competitive live news offer, it could carve a sustainable niche,” said one City analyst. “But execution risk is enormous.”
A Reporter’s Dilemma
For individual journalists, the shift is personal. A senior feature writer at the Daily Mirror put it bluntly: “My skill is long-form storytelling. The new model wants me to cut video scripts. That’s not what I trained for.”
Others acknowledge the need to change. “The industry’s broken,” said a younger reporter. “If we don’t adapt, there won’t be jobs at all.”
Wider Industry Implications
For marketers, Reach’s pivot signals the growing dominance of video-first and real-time formats. Advertising partnerships will likely evolve toward shorter, embedded clips and branded live streams.
For technologists, the restructuring opens opportunities to collaborate on live production infrastructure, AI-driven workflows, and subscription tech.
For executives, the case underscores a strategic dilemma: can large publishers centralise without losing trust? Or will homogenisation undermine what makes local journalism valuable?
Plain-Spoken Judgement
Reach’s overhaul is not reckless, but it is fraught with risk. Centralisation can deliver efficiency, but it may also strip away authenticity. Local journalism, already weakened, could be the collateral damage.
If the Live News Network resonates, Reach may yet find a sustainable path. If not, the publisher risks becoming a hollowed-out collection of titles with little to distinguish them.
The Road Ahead
The next six months will be pivotal. The Live News Network is due to launch later this year. Success will depend not just on audience uptake but on whether staff buy into the model.
For now, Reach remains profitable, but under mounting pressure. The company’s survival will hinge on its ability to execute digital transformation without eroding the very trust that sustains its brands.
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