APN announces redundancies at sub-hub
APN’s regional division has announced further editorial redundancies this time at its centralised newspaper hub, Centro, which is expected to shed one fifth of its editorial staff.
The subbing hub currently employs around 100 staff, who were told on Wednesday about the redundancies. Mumbrella understands a number of staff have already taken voluntary redundancy.
In a statement, APN told Mumbrella the redundancies were part of a restructure of the centralised editorial production unit for the company’s regional media arm Australian Regional Media (ARM).
“The core focus is making our newspapers essential in the local communities we serve, and whilst redundancies are always regrettable, we are determined to preserve local journalist jobs on the ground in the 35 towns and cities we service in NSW and Queensland. These are the front line news jobs that make our mastheads valuable in the future,” said Neil Monaghan CEO of ARM.Staff at the centre have told Mumbrella they are concerned about the impact of the cuts on quality for APN’s regional newspapers and also the larger workload that will be placed on remaining staff.
The Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA), the union which represents journalists, said it was aware of the redundancies and was working with members to ensure they received their entitlements
“APN had informed the journalists’ union of 15 redundancies — voluntary at first,” said a MEAA spokesperson. “MEAA officials will meet with APN management on Monday.”
Nic Christensen
APN – More cuts than Campbell Newman. How many jobs have they axed in the past 12 months? The front line jobs that Mr Monaghan says he wants to preserve have actually already been heavily cut, which he failed to mention. Have these guys got any ideas other than sacking staff? Take a wild guess.
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