Reach says it won't replace reporters with influencers | Mail loses Prince Harry legal fight
And reporter speaks out after being questioned by police for doing his job
Good morning and welcome to your daily media news briefing on Friday, 10 November, brought to you in association with PA Media.
Secure your place here for PA Media's upcoming webinar to find how live video can transform your news coverage.
As staff and managers wrestle with the latest redundancies at Reach, we take an in-depth look at news the UK's largest commercial news publisher is cutting 450 jobs.
The question I ask is, to what extent are Reach's challenges self-inflicted and to what extent are they the result of the macro-economic environment and structural problems in the way digital advertising works.
While other publishers have made cutbacks this year it has been at nothing like the same scale.
The second largest local news publisher, Newsquest, delivered a reasonably optimistic and positive outlook for 2023 when it reported its annual results in September.
All consumer publishers have suffered from the cost of living squeeze and a reduction in referral traffic from Google and Facebook. There are also structural issues in the digital ecosystem which means the overall growth in online display advertising which we have seen this year is not flowing through to trusted news brands.
Today we report on Police Scotland's latest attack on lawful journalistic sources (they have form in this department). They have admitted that two police officers questioned a reporter merely because they suspected he had received unauthorised information from a colleague about two fatal road traffic accidents.
She says the first problem legacy publishers need to overcome is the way they "woefully misrepresent" 18 to 24-year-olds.
One millennial who feels he has been misrepresented by the media, Prince Harry, has won himself yet another day in court. Today the publisher of the Daily Mail has lost its bid to throw out a claim of illegal newsgathering brought by Prince Harry, Doreen Lawrence, Elton John and others.
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New from Press Gazette
Daily Mail fails in bid to stop Prince Harry illegal newsgathering legal claim
“In my judgment, each claimant has a real prospect of demonstrating that Associated, or those for whom Associated is responsible, concealed from him/her the relevant facts upon which a worthwhile claim of unlawful information gathering could have been advanced.”
Reach redundancies: Company rejects report it will replace journalists with influencers
Chief executive Jim Mullen’s quote in the Telegraph about influncers provoked an angry reaction from staff during a company-wide address on Wednesday afternoon, which was delivered via web stream.
Journalist questioned by police because car crash reports were so ‘in depth’
The police said it was “both appropriate and justified to investigate any report such as this”.
To reach Gen Z legacy media must first stop misrepresenting them
“It is nothing new for news organisations to reinvent themselves to attract younger audiences, but often these efforts fail to address the true problem, which is that legacy media woefully misrepresent Gen Z and how big news stories affect them.”
News in brief
Bloomberg Media's chief digital officer has told Axios the business news brand now has more than 500,000 subscribers. Some 60% of subscribers are in the US, 20% the EMEA region and 20% in the Asia-Pacific region. (Axios)
Huck magazine has launched a paid membership scheme. Starting at £4 a month/£36 a year, memberships offer access to the Huck discord server, with higher-paying members getting the print magazine and exclusive content. (Huck)
The Press Recognition Panel has launched a public call for information to gather views on "the effectiveness and independence of press regulation in the UK". The deadline for submissions is 15 January. (PRP)
The New York Times has surpassed ten million subscribers, with 9.41 million digital-only and 670,000 subscribers in print. Adjusted operating profit for the third quarter of 2023 was $89m, up 30.1% on a year earlier. (The New York Times)
Fact-checking charity Full Fact has launched a petition asking political parties to stop "underhand campaign tactics" - in particular, distributing election materials dressed up as newspapers. (Full Fact)
Vice is cutting staff and ending some news programmes. Deadline puts the number of job losses at "less than 100". (Deadline)
Israel's representative to the UN has said that Palestinian photographers who sent images of the 7 October Hamas attack to international media will be "eliminated", alleging they must have had advance knowledge of the incursion. (Financial Times)
The AP, Reuters, The New York Times and CNN have strongly disputed suggestions by Israeli officials that they had advance knowledge of the attack. (CNN)
The Poynter Institute has produced a working paper claiming to show that the work of news publishers is worth "between $11.9bn and $13.9bn a year" to Google and Meta in the US. (Poynter)
The Washington Post has deleted an editorial cartoon depicting a Hamas leader using civilians as human shields after the caricature was criticised as racist. (Washington Post)
Podcast 59: From subscriptions to membership at Elle UK
Elle UK editor Kenya Hunt talks to Press Gazette about why she hopes readers will pay £150 a year to become fashion industry insiders as members of Elle Collective.
She also talks about the future of magazines, diversity and why magazine editors have a duty to present images of female beauty responsibly.
Previously on Press Gazette
Reliance on social media sees profits fall and jobs cut at Pink News
Schools Week, education’s ‘cross between FT and Private Eye’, celebrates subs growth
Footballco says it will grow affiliate revenues by 300% in 2023 in drive away from advertising
Reach restructure: 450 jobs to go, websites to close, print and online teams to combine
The News Movement ‘on target to hit profit’ amid cuts and exit of CEO William Lewis
