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News Corp axes more editorial roles as it continues to cut costs

News Corp has axed a number of editorial roles across mastheads The Australian, Herald Sun and Daily Telegraph, the AFR reports.

A story this morning said the redundancies, of which there could be up to 30, are a mix of voluntary and forced. The decision affects a number of production staff, who will leave News Corp and join Australian Associated Press subsidiary Pagemasters as sub-editors.

Jobs have been axed at The Australian, The Herald Sun and The Daily Telegraph, according to the AFR

The redundancies are part of a restructuring and transformation project currently underway at News Corp. Mumbrella understands there is no particular headcount target, but the measures are part of each division’s cost management strategies.

“As part of our overall business strategy, we have an ongoing focus on how we can identify opportunities to make our operations more efficient,” a News Corp Australia spokesperson told Mumbrella.

“Equally, this applies to our editorial operations and how we identify opportunities to create the most efficient digitally responsive newsrooms.”

The news comes three days after Social Diary announced journalist Renata Gortan had accepted a voluntary redundancy.

Gortan has worked with MX, The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Telegraph, Best Weekend and Taste across a number of roles.

The latest round of job cuts come four months after a number of photographers and production staff were made redundant. In July this year, News Corp and Fairfax Media, which is set to be owned by Nine, entered an agreement to share printing presses in a bid to save costs. News Corp told Mumbrella at the time none of its employees were affected by the changes.

Despite cost cuts, digital subscriptions are up for the News Corp mastheads, as reported in August. News Corp’s The Australian has the biggest digital subscription base, with 135,783 subscribers as of June 2018, the figures indicate. Sydney-based masthead The Daily Telegraph currently has a subscription base of 114,203 and The Herald Sun, which is Melbourne’s main title, has 108,801 subscribers.

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