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Vote of no confidence in Scott Trust |
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Wednesday, 18 March 2009 |
Journalists at the Manchester Evening News and its sister papers across Greater Manchester have declared a vote of no confidence in the Scott Trust Ltd, which owns Guardian Media Group.
Members of the NUJ chapel which represents 6 of the weeklies in the south of the region unanimously passed the motion following the announcement of 78 redundancies across the GMG titles.
MoC, Bethan Dorsett has written a letter on the chapel’s behalf to Dame Liz Forgan, the chair of the Scott Trust.
"Our members deplore the decision to make these sweeping job cuts, particularly the compulsory editorial redundancies - a first for MEN Media - which will affect around a third of the journalists working in the weeklies.
"We also condemn the decision to remove all local newspapers from their "patches", which will not only have a devastating effect both on readership, and therefore profits, but also on the remaining staff, who face a complete overhaul of their terms and conditions without the benefit of additional pay.
"We believe this short-sighted decision will effectively obliterate the existence of popular titles, from the Rochdale Observer in the north to the Stockport Express in the south, in all but name.
"As CP Scott said in his centenary lecture, which laid the foundation of the Trust's values, a newspaper is 'much more than a business' as reflects the influences and life of a whole community'.
"Part of the Trust's present day role is to ensure these values are upheld throughout the GMG group.
"We feel this decision flies in the face of such values."
The Scott Trust Limited replaced Scott Trust last year. Something to add? Then leave a comment below or email us now.
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