PA puts 74 editorial staff at risk of redundancy | Mail adds 'thousands' of paid podcast subscribers
Plus Reuters Institute research finds UK journalists are getting older, more left-wing and increasingly freelance as gender disparity remains
Good morning and welcome to your daily media briefing from Press Gazette on Wednesday 23 April, brought to you today in partnership with The Publisher Summits - a two-day event in London dedicated to newsletters, print, podcasts and apps.
Come and learn from leading publishers on which product strategies drive audience and revenue growth, with 20% off ticket prices for Press Gazette readers using the code PRESSGAZETTE at checkout.
Crime coverage has been a staple of journalism since hack writers plied their trade on London's Grub Street in the 18th century.
Now the Daily Mail has reinvented crime reporting for the digital age with a series of wildly popular podcasts. These began with coverage of the Lucy Letby trial but have expanded into wider-ranging investigations and other formats.
Deep daily reporting of noteworthy trials remains a staple of the Mail's podcast output.
Encouragingly, the Mail is finding a paying audience for its crime podcasts.
Head of podcasts at DMG Media Jamie East told Press Gazette how their paid podcasts model works and explained why he is on a crusade against advertiser refusal to support crime coverage.
With so much bad, and even harmful, crime coverage on Tiktok and other social media it was also encouraging to hear the Mail's work in this area has an ethical spine.
We also exclusively report on job cuts at the UK's national news agency PA, which is seeking to cut 8% of its UK editorial team.
And we share the results of the latest big Reuters survey on UK journalists. Based on a survey of 1,000+ working UK journalists it is well worth a closer look.
The survey suggests UK journalists are increasingly freelance and left-wing. They also skew more towards being male and white the older they get and there remains a significant gender pay gap.
Changing work practices obviously take decades to filter through to the oldest cohort. But the survey suggests that ensuring talented women remain in journalism and progress to senior jobs a they get older remains a massive challenge.
***Press Gazette has a few places left for our FREE Future of Media Trends event in London on Thursday. This half-day event mixes some excellent industry speakers with some organised networking where delegates are invited to solve pressing journalism revenue challenges with their peers. Find out more here please drop us a line today if you are in a leadership position at a publisher and would like to attend.***
From our sponsor:
The Publisher Summits: 10th-11th June 2025
Do you have a newsletter, magazine, app or podcast? Do you want to know how to improve them, grow audiences and optimise revenue?
Whether you're a senior executive in charge of strategy or an editor responsible for content, there will be plenty to learn at The Publisher Summits.
See the agenda, tickets and more at publishersummits.com
*20% off ticket prices for Press Gazette readers using the code PRESSGAZETTE at checkout*
On Press Gazette
PA Media's third floor newsroom at The Point in Paddington, pictured in 2019. Picture: PA Media
PA Media proposing to cut 8% of UK editorial staff
Staff were told on Tuesday morning that 74 members of the UK content team were being put at risk of redundancy with the aim of cutting up to 25 roles.
How Mail has gained thousands of subscribers for crime podcasts
Jamie East, the head of podcasts at DMG Media, told Press Gazette the launch of The Crime Desk podcast subscription offer capitalised on the “juggernaut” success of Mail true crime podcasts like The Trial of Lucy Letby.
UK journalists are getting older, more left-wing and increasingly freelance
In 2015, 54% self-identified with the political left and this has since risen to 77%. But only 13% said their personal values and beliefs were extremely influential on their work.
News in brief
The Washington Post has become the latest news publisher to sign a deal with OpenAI and says it will get "clear attribution" in ChatGPT. (Press Gazette)
OpenAI says ChatGPT search had around 41.3 million average monthly active users in Europe in the six months to 31 March, up from 11.2 million a month in the six months to 31 October 2024. (TechCrunch)
Sarah Palin has lost the retrial of her libel claim against The New York Times. (The New York Times)
Journalists Barry McCaffrey and Trevor Birney have condemned the fact the Investigatory Powers Tribunal has no power to award costs against government bodies over evidence failures, namely in this case the PSNI after it was found to have delayed disclosures. (Computer Weekly)
The NUJ has slammed DC Thomson's decision not to give staff an overall pay rise for a second year in a row. The company reportedly blamed inflation, market pressures and increases to employers' National Insurance contributions. (NUJ)
The Ankler says it has more 130,000 subscribers overall (paid and free) and makes 40% of its revenue from subscriptions and 60% from ads/events. Chief executive Janice Min says "the amount you can accomplish with little money is wild". (The Rebooting)
Bloomberg Media saw year-on-year growth of 38% in video consumption across digital, streaming and linear platforms - reaching its highest to date - amid the Trump tariff uncertainty. It reached 68 million viewers in March, compared to an average of 30 million a month in 2024. (Adweek)
Video game title GamesBeat has spun out from tech site VentureBeat as a separate, independent entity led by the brands' former chief strategy officer Gina Joseph as chief executive. (Variety)
Inside Croydon reports that Croydon Council staff have been blocked from reading its website on staff computers and that councillors have been stopped from using their council email addresses to contact the site. (Inside Croydon)
404 Media says it is in "a very strong, resilient position" financially despite a hit to its revenue as subscribers look to cut costs. Those cancelling have cited government job losses or a need to "brace themselves for the rest of the Trump administration", the site said. (404 Media)
Google will continue to offer third-party cookies in Chrome and will not roll out a standalone prompt as planned through its Privacy Sandbox initiative. (Google)
The executive producer of CBS show 60 Minutes has quit, saying he has lost his journalistic independence. Donald Trump is currently suing CBS, claiming 60 Minutes edited an interview with Kamala Harris to favour the then-presidential contender. (Financial Times)
A federal judge has blocked the US government from dismantling Voice of America and Radio Free Asia and required the administration to let the news organisations' journalists return to work. (The New York Times)
Last week on Press Gazette
Comment: Why UK’s contempt of court laws need reform for digital age
Positive news monthly Plymouth Chronicle sees bright future for print
Facebook increasing as part of social traffic mix after algorithm change, data shows
‘Unsustainable status quo’: AI companies and publishers respond to Govt copyright consultation
AI scraper violations and what we can do about them: New research reveals scale of problem
Cision closes journalism jobs board and sells expert enquiry service
Newspaper ABCs: Sunday People sees biggest annual print circulation decline
Global ad spend against news down by a third since pre-Covid
Latest podcast: Jim Mullen's legacy at Reach | Value of news to Google | Sun losses, Times profits
Press Gazette's editorial team share their insights into big stories from the world of news. Charlotte Tobitt talks us through the latest News UK accounts, which show losses at The Sun shrank in the year to June 2024 while The Times reported a £60m profit.
We react to news that Jim Mullen, the divisive CEO at Reach, is stepping down. And Bron Maher looks at the arguments and counterarguments being made by publishers and Google over what news is really worth on its platforms.