Love And Passion Can T Help You Live Reach Out To Journalists Preparing To Join Picket Lines Reach Formerly Trinity Mirror

A regional reporter described how three years of university, training and unpaid placements landed them a job in a Reach store on £18,000 a year. Having only recently joined the media industry, they have already been overwhelmed by financial instability. “I’m thinking of leaving soon,” they said. “I love my job – but this year will highlight how love and passion can’t help you live.” Other reporters describe taking weekend jobs in coffee shops to supplement their journalism salaries, only to find they make more per hour making coffee than they do in their full-time job writing news. Formerly known as Trinity Mirror, in recent years Reach has become home to dozens of titles, including Express and Star. It also has an extensive local news business, combining a handful of traditional newspaper brands – such as the Manchester Evening News and the Liverpool Echo – with dozens of online-first businesses under the ‘Live’ brand. Of the two dozen Reach journalists who spoke to the Guardian in recent days, none said they had gone into media to get rich, and there was widespread acceptance that working as a journalist is now a relatively low-paid job. But staff say Reach management has pushed them into action by offering just a 3% pay rise – while the push to build a profitable digital news business with ambitious online traffic targets is undermining the core news offering, hitting morale and leads to high staff turnover. As one senior journalist put it: “I don’t want to disappoint our readers by going on strike, but what [management] we are waiting to accept that it is not sustainable.” Senior reporters on Reach’s regional titles are on salaries of around £27,000, while middle management news desk staff who edit the copy get around £33,000. With little chance of a pay rise for employees who often have significant student loan debt, there is a steady churn of staff leaving for better-paying positions elsewhere – often in public relations for local councils, where they try to outwit their replacements. Others lament that their dream of being aspiring local reporters who go out and do stories is drowned out by the need to chase click targets by “posting whatever comes in.” With many regional staff now permanently from home after Reach closed many of its regional newsrooms, low morale can set in. A reporter said: “You might go out to cover something, but those occasions are rare and any request to do anything outside the house is usually met with something like ‘we can’t justify the time.’ Another said: “We’ve gotten smaller [newsdesks] you’re working toward bigger goals, which means you already feel pretty compromised about how you work. The reach model has largely become quantity and quality due to the pressure on web traffic.” A regular complaint is the high level of advertising on Reach’s sites, with one local journalist recounting how his manager had advised staff to install ad-blocking software to ensure their own site would load on old computers. Reach chief executive Jim Mullen, who joined from bookmaker Ladbrokes, has been at the center of staff anger over his £4m pay package. His pleasant updates to all staff – known among staff as the “hi folks” emails for their home introductions – have sparked outrage at their surprise as the pay dispute has progressed. “We just hope he says ‘that’s all’ soon,” said one. In an attempt to reassure staff, Reach management have been left in the unenviable position of stressing that Mullen is unlikely to see the bulk of his pay deal as more than £3m was in a long-term incentive scheme linked to company’s share price. Because Reach’s share price has collapsed 82% in the past 12 months, it has yet to see the cash. That argument doesn’t go down particularly well with staff – and it may go down even worse with shareholders, who have watched the value of their holdings collapse. Years of below-inflation pay rises – and a mandatory 10% cut in the pandemic, repayable only in the face of legal action – have hit morale. Last week, the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) postponed the first day of a planned month-long strike after Reach agreed to the union’s offer of further talks over the bank holiday weekend. Reach offered clearer pay structures and improved career progression, but there was no improved pay offer, with the union blaming Mullen personally for this omission. A Reach spokesman said it was not Mullen’s decision alone, but was based on “a consistent agreement at senior level to protect the future of the business”, while a one-off cost-of-living bonus payment to staff is expected. “The Reach negotiating team has been clear about its remit with the NUJ throughout the process and was not in a position to accept a surprise offer,” they said. “Likewise, he entered the talks with a proposal he hoped would lead to a resolution, but the NUJ was unable to accept it.”

title: " Love And Passion Can T Help You Live Reach Out To Journalists Preparing To Join Picket Lines Reach Formerly Trinity Mirror Klmat" ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-02” author: “John Murray”

A regional reporter described how three years of university, training and unpaid placements landed them a job in a Reach store on £18,000 a year. Having only recently joined the media industry, they have already been overwhelmed by financial instability. “I’m thinking of leaving soon,” they said. “I love my job – but this year will highlight how love and passion can’t help you live.” Other reporters describe taking weekend jobs in coffee shops to supplement their journalism salaries, only to find they make more per hour making coffee than they do in their full-time job writing news. Formerly known as Trinity Mirror, in recent years Reach has become home to dozens of titles, including Express and Star. It also has an extensive local news business, combining a handful of traditional newspaper brands – such as the Manchester Evening News and the Liverpool Echo – with dozens of online-first businesses under the ‘Live’ brand. Of the two dozen Reach journalists who spoke to the Guardian in recent days, none said they had gone into media to get rich, and there was widespread acceptance that working as a journalist is now a relatively low-paid job. But staff say Reach management has pushed them into action by offering just a 3% pay rise – while the push to build a profitable digital news business with ambitious online traffic targets is undermining the core news offering, hitting morale and leads to high staff turnover. As one senior journalist put it: “I don’t want to disappoint our readers by going on strike, but what [management] we are waiting to accept that it is not sustainable.” Senior reporters on Reach’s regional titles are on salaries of around £27,000, while middle management news desk staff who edit the copy get around £33,000. With little chance of a pay rise for employees who often have significant student loan debt, there is a steady churn of staff leaving for better-paying positions elsewhere – often in public relations for local councils, where they try to outwit their replacements. Others lament that their dream of being aspiring local reporters who go out and do stories is drowned out by the need to chase click targets by “posting whatever comes in.” With many regional staff now permanently from home after Reach closed many of its regional newsrooms, low morale can set in. A reporter said: “You might go out to cover something, but those occasions are rare and any request to do anything outside the house is usually met with something like ‘we can’t justify the time.’ Another said: “We’ve gotten smaller [newsdesks] you’re working toward bigger goals, which means you already feel pretty compromised about how you work. The reach model has largely become quantity and quality due to the pressure on web traffic.” A regular complaint is the high level of advertising on Reach’s sites, with one local journalist recounting how his manager had advised staff to install ad-blocking software to ensure their own site would load on old computers. Reach chief executive Jim Mullen, who joined from bookmaker Ladbrokes, has been at the center of staff anger over his £4m pay package. His pleasant updates to all staff – known among staff as the “hi folks” emails for their home introductions – have sparked outrage at their surprise as the pay dispute has progressed. “We just hope he says ‘that’s all’ soon,” said one. In an attempt to reassure staff, Reach management have been left in the unenviable position of stressing that Mullen is unlikely to see the bulk of his pay deal as more than £3m was in a long-term incentive scheme linked to company’s share price. Because Reach’s share price has collapsed 82% in the past 12 months, it has yet to see the cash. That argument doesn’t go down particularly well with staff – and it may go down even worse with shareholders, who have watched the value of their holdings collapse. Years of below-inflation pay rises – and a mandatory 10% cut in the pandemic, repayable only in the face of legal action – have hit morale. Last week, the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) postponed the first day of a planned month-long strike after Reach agreed to the union’s offer of further talks over the bank holiday weekend. Reach offered clearer pay structures and improved career progression, but there was no improved pay offer, with the union blaming Mullen personally for this omission. A Reach spokesman said it was not Mullen’s decision alone, but was based on “a consistent agreement at senior level to protect the future of the business”, while a one-off cost-of-living bonus payment to staff is expected. “The Reach negotiating team has been clear about its remit with the NUJ throughout the process and was not in a position to accept a surprise offer,” they said. “Likewise, he entered the talks with a proposal he hoped would lead to a resolution, but the NUJ was unable to accept it.”

title: " Love And Passion Can T Help You Live Reach Out To Journalists Preparing To Join Picket Lines Reach Formerly Trinity Mirror Klmat" ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-08” author: “Jennifer Boggan”

A regional reporter described how three years of university, training and unpaid placements landed them a job in a Reach store on £18,000 a year. Having only recently joined the media industry, they have already been overwhelmed by financial instability. “I’m thinking of leaving soon,” they said. “I love my job – but this year will highlight how love and passion can’t help you live.” Other reporters describe taking weekend jobs in coffee shops to supplement their journalism salaries, only to find they make more per hour making coffee than they do in their full-time job writing news. Formerly known as Trinity Mirror, in recent years Reach has become home to dozens of titles, including Express and Star. It also has an extensive local news business, combining a handful of traditional newspaper brands – such as the Manchester Evening News and the Liverpool Echo – with dozens of online-first businesses under the ‘Live’ brand. Of the two dozen Reach journalists who spoke to the Guardian in recent days, none said they had gone into media to get rich, and there was widespread acceptance that working as a journalist is now a relatively low-paid job. But staff say Reach management has pushed them into action by offering just a 3% pay rise – while the push to build a profitable digital news business with ambitious online traffic targets is undermining the core news offering, hitting morale and leads to high staff turnover. As one senior journalist put it: “I don’t want to disappoint our readers by going on strike, but what [management] we are waiting to accept that it is not sustainable.” Senior reporters on Reach’s regional titles are on salaries of around £27,000, while middle management news desk staff who edit the copy get around £33,000. With little chance of a pay rise for employees who often have significant student loan debt, there is a steady churn of staff leaving for better-paying positions elsewhere – often in public relations for local councils, where they try to outwit their replacements. Others lament that their dream of being aspiring local reporters who go out and do stories is drowned out by the need to chase click targets by “posting whatever comes in.” With many regional staff now permanently from home after Reach closed many of its regional newsrooms, low morale can set in. A reporter said: “You might go out to cover something, but those occasions are rare and any request to do anything outside the house is usually met with something like ‘we can’t justify the time.’ Another said: “We’ve gotten smaller [newsdesks] you’re working toward bigger goals, which means you already feel pretty compromised about how you work. The reach model has largely become quantity and quality due to the pressure on web traffic.” A regular complaint is the high level of advertising on Reach’s sites, with one local journalist recounting how his manager had advised staff to install ad-blocking software to ensure their own site would load on old computers. Reach chief executive Jim Mullen, who joined from bookmaker Ladbrokes, has been at the center of staff anger over his £4m pay package. His pleasant updates to all staff – known among staff as the “hi folks” emails for their home introductions – have sparked outrage at their surprise as the pay dispute has progressed. “We just hope he says ‘that’s all’ soon,” said one. In an attempt to reassure staff, Reach management have been left in the unenviable position of stressing that Mullen is unlikely to see the bulk of his pay deal as more than £3m was in a long-term incentive scheme linked to company’s share price. Because Reach’s share price has collapsed 82% in the past 12 months, it has yet to see the cash. That argument doesn’t go down particularly well with staff – and it may go down even worse with shareholders, who have watched the value of their holdings collapse. Years of below-inflation pay rises – and a mandatory 10% cut in the pandemic, repayable only in the face of legal action – have hit morale. Last week, the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) postponed the first day of a planned month-long strike after Reach agreed to the union’s offer of further talks over the bank holiday weekend. Reach offered clearer pay structures and improved career progression, but there was no improved pay offer, with the union blaming Mullen personally for this omission. A Reach spokesman said it was not Mullen’s decision alone, but was based on “a consistent agreement at senior level to protect the future of the business”, while a one-off cost-of-living bonus payment to staff is expected. “The Reach negotiating team has been clear about its remit with the NUJ throughout the process and was not in a position to accept a surprise offer,” they said. “Likewise, he entered the talks with a proposal he hoped would lead to a resolution, but the NUJ was unable to accept it.”

title: " Love And Passion Can T Help You Live Reach Out To Journalists Preparing To Join Picket Lines Reach Formerly Trinity Mirror Klmat" ShowToc: true date: “2022-10-25” author: “John Buonocore”

A regional reporter described how three years of university, training and unpaid placements landed them a job in a Reach store on £18,000 a year. Having only recently joined the media industry, they have already been overwhelmed by financial instability. “I’m thinking of leaving soon,” they said. “I love my job – but this year will highlight how love and passion can’t help you live.” Other reporters describe taking weekend jobs in coffee shops to supplement their journalism salaries, only to find they make more per hour making coffee than they do in their full-time job writing news. Formerly known as Trinity Mirror, in recent years Reach has become home to dozens of titles, including Express and Star. It also has an extensive local news business, combining a handful of traditional newspaper brands – such as the Manchester Evening News and the Liverpool Echo – with dozens of online-first businesses under the ‘Live’ brand. Of the two dozen Reach journalists who spoke to the Guardian in recent days, none said they had gone into media to get rich, and there was widespread acceptance that working as a journalist is now a relatively low-paid job. But staff say Reach management has pushed them into action by offering just a 3% pay rise – while the push to build a profitable digital news business with ambitious online traffic targets is undermining the core news offering, hitting morale and leads to high staff turnover. As one senior journalist put it: “I don’t want to disappoint our readers by going on strike, but what [management] we are waiting to accept that it is not sustainable.” Senior reporters on Reach’s regional titles are on salaries of around £27,000, while middle management news desk staff who edit the copy get around £33,000. With little chance of a pay rise for employees who often have significant student loan debt, there is a steady churn of staff leaving for better-paying positions elsewhere – often in public relations for local councils, where they try to outwit their replacements. Others lament that their dream of being aspiring local reporters who go out and do stories is drowned out by the need to chase click targets by “posting whatever comes in.” With many regional staff now permanently from home after Reach closed many of its regional newsrooms, low morale can set in. A reporter said: “You might go out to cover something, but those occasions are rare and any request to do anything outside the house is usually met with something like ‘we can’t justify the time.’ Another said: “We’ve gotten smaller [newsdesks] you’re working toward bigger goals, which means you already feel pretty compromised about how you work. The reach model has largely become quantity and quality due to the pressure on web traffic.” A regular complaint is the high level of advertising on Reach’s sites, with one local journalist recounting how his manager had advised staff to install ad-blocking software to ensure their own site would load on old computers. Reach chief executive Jim Mullen, who joined from bookmaker Ladbrokes, has been at the center of staff anger over his £4m pay package. His pleasant updates to all staff – known among staff as the “hi folks” emails for their home introductions – have sparked outrage at their surprise as the pay dispute has progressed. “We just hope he says ‘that’s all’ soon,” said one. In an attempt to reassure staff, Reach management have been left in the unenviable position of stressing that Mullen is unlikely to see the bulk of his pay deal as more than £3m was in a long-term incentive scheme linked to company’s share price. Because Reach’s share price has collapsed 82% in the past 12 months, it has yet to see the cash. That argument doesn’t go down particularly well with staff – and it may go down even worse with shareholders, who have watched the value of their holdings collapse. Years of below-inflation pay rises – and a mandatory 10% cut in the pandemic, repayable only in the face of legal action – have hit morale. Last week, the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) postponed the first day of a planned month-long strike after Reach agreed to the union’s offer of further talks over the bank holiday weekend. Reach offered clearer pay structures and improved career progression, but there was no improved pay offer, with the union blaming Mullen personally for this omission. A Reach spokesman said it was not Mullen’s decision alone, but was based on “a consistent agreement at senior level to protect the future of the business”, while a one-off cost-of-living bonus payment to staff is expected. “The Reach negotiating team has been clear about its remit with the NUJ throughout the process and was not in a position to accept a surprise offer,” they said. “Likewise, he entered the talks with a proposal he hoped would lead to a resolution, but the NUJ was unable to accept it.”