Jobs go at Birmingham Mail and sister papers...

Thanks for letting us read that we will all have to reapply for our jobs in the 'consultation' document rather than telling us face to face at the meeting.

Hopefully Steve Dyson will be one to go.

Thanks for comments...
A Hack: at the meeting, I repeatedly said that we needed those staff "who want and are able" to be in various roles.
You're right that I didn't say anyone will have to reapply for their jobs because they won't. But everyone will have to apply for the new jobs in the new structure. All jobs change.
But maybe that's a small distinction. In some ways, I understand that the detail is in documents, and I'll be happy to discuss that with you personally.
One final point: those staff who do want to be part of the future will in many cases be paid more (also in the document) because we have resized job roles that are changing significantly.
Stuart: 'Fraid not, me old mate, I intend to take on a new role and help see the titles involved through a difficult transition. In some ways, it might have been easier not to. There may certainly be more angst like yours to deal with. But I think too much of the brands and the city they serve - my city - to go hide behind a bush.

Lots of firms are doing this these days, it's a way of weeding out what they consider to be the deadwood. Small changes to a job title here and there, then tell you, you have to apply for the "new" job or effectively make yourself redundant, it's a pile of pants.

And whats your alternative, Colin?

high guys. ive a multi-media wobbly camera phone publishing dream and its going to be in the middle of nowhere cos it is cheap. its going to be brilliant. here is a load business speak said very fast. 65 of you wont make it through to the promised but if you dont want to that is ok. look at this power point presentation ive got two jobs now. pick up something from the back of the room and reapply for your only mortgage paying job. (oh i wont say the last sentence aloud cos im ashamed)

journalists are paid to see through smokescreens why take us for fools when we are not idiots.

unforgivable

'Birmingham Mail and sister papers reinvent themselves for multi-media revolution'.

What complete nonsense. Surely you can do that without shedding 65 staff. Why not reinvent yourself for the multi-media revolution by keeping all the staff and delivering an even better and more extensive service to readers and website viewers?

I think people would have a bit more respect if there was a bit more transparency involved in the announcements ie pretty much purely as a response to difficult trading conditions etc. Trying to gloss over it in this way is taking people for idiots.

Are all of the APC staff moving to Fort Dunlop too? Are they having to apply for their own jobs??

Me too angry. But also frustrated because having read the damn pack I can't see what else they could have done. We know dosh is falling out fast, so though it's uncomforting we've gotta change. I don't agree with all parts and, in my meeting, I will challenge parts. But it couldn't have been too easy up there. And though it's annoying and worrying I shake my head at the cynics on this thread. What would they do? Don't change ANYTHING is their main cry. Yeah, right.

Another Hack. I don't dispute much of what you say and I don't dispute the fact that these changes have to be made. It's trying to dress them up as progress and as "re-invention" that frankly takes the mickey. Why try and dress them up? Why not just face facts? You're dealing with journalists with critical minds for pity's sake. "Jobs go at Birmingham Mail and sister papers" is the story I'm afraid. And there's no hiding from that.

I wonder how much Sly Bailey's big fat bonus will be once the job cuts are made?

They said all this guff in 1985 when they unveiled the "24-hour newspaper". It didn't work then and it won't work now. See http://nigelhastilow.blogspot.com/2008/08/not-waving-drowning.html

Come on Nigel, you mean nothing has changed in 23 years? Your blog post has a number of salient points and some excellent insights but the "nothing has changed, didnt work before, wont work now" attitude is counter productive old-fogyism

How short a memory Nigel Hastilow has. At least the journalists are being told they're being stitched up - when he was in charge he just tried to employ them on the cheap.

You're kidding yourself if the Post was in some sort of golden age when you were in charge, Nigel. What happened during your seven years? What did you do to stop this happening? There's nothing sadder than an ex-employee trying to gloat over his former place of work.
It's not the end of newspaper publishing in Birmingham because, doh, three titles a week will still be published in the city. As you said, TM is still geared up to print. You can't have it both ways.

You're kidding yourself if the Post was in some sort of golden age when you were in charge, Nigel. What happened during your seven years? What did you do to stop this happening? There's nothing sadder than an ex-employee trying to gloat over his former place of work.
It's not the end of newspaper publishing in Birmingham because, doh, three titles a week will still be published in the city. As you said, TM is still geared up to print. You can't have it both ways.

I note the Birmingham Mail's major campaign to try and save the Post Offices.
Will the Post Offices now launch a campaign to try and save the Birmingham Mail?

Steve Dyson said: 'Fraid not, me old mate, I intend to take on a new role and help see the titles involved through a difficult transition.'

Steve Dyson meant: '65 of you lot are going but I'm alright Jack.'

Eat your heart out David Brent.

Trinity Mirror do not care about what goes in the paper, the quality of editorial or reporter. Sly Bailey and her lackeys raison d'etre is profit, cutting costs. This is a sure way to kill off the Mail for good. Is that what they want? Seems like it. This 'multi media revolution' and the alleged credit crunch is a convenient excuse for Trinity Mirror to wield the axe and boost their shareholders profit. They simply do not care about reporters or the people of Birmingham. End of.

Fact: This essentially means the end of the Sunday Mercury.
Shame on you Steve Dyson. You should be throughly ashamed of yourself.
The Mercury has always punched above its weight, and risen above the cost-slashing of Trinity Mirror to consistently put out paper after great paper.
Don't believe me? Well look at the slew of awards it's won over the last year, let alone the past couple of decades. You've been perfectly happy to share in that glory, but are now the architect of its downfall.
You've essentially left it editor-less by sending Brookes to Coventry and repoter-less as there will no longer be any dedicated reporters.
The whole essence of the Merc, which you evidently singularly fail to understand, is that it is a small team that is immensely proud of what they achieve with few staff and no budget. Week after week they produce sports, news and features that often get picked up by the nationals - and the brand is still very popular with its readers (lowest decline of all the 3 Brum papers). There is a real-team spirit, which has - and is still doing - produced a number of great journalists.
You have effectively signed its death warrant (see Wales on Sunday - a shadow of its former self).
Do you REALLY think it will continue to break such great stories with verve and gusto, with an 'editor' who doesn't give a stuff and no proper reporters.
YOUR priority, as ever, will be the Mail.
I haven't seen the figures you have, nor am I privy to TM memos, though I do agree with some of the points you make about journalism changing and having to keep up in a multi-media world.
But how can you say 'I think too much of the brands and the city they serve - my city - to hide behind a bush' when you are effectively closing one of those brands.
As a proud Brummie I am incredibly saddened by what you are doing. Surely there was another way than this?
I appreciate you're in a difficult position yourself. But really. Re-read your appalling management speak above, and ask yourself: 'Have I really come to this?'If you can't even talk straight to your staff, how will you ever convice your readers?

Glad to see the input from many. Intend to answer each and every one later on. Esp. looking forward to addressing certain points by Nigel 'I used to be an editor you know' Hastilow and Mr 'Angry'!

Amazing how the media are the first to point the figure and disparage the efforts of others in positions of authority, then as soon as their ivory towers start to crumble they run for cover blaming "the internet innit".
Imagine if Birmingham Council came out with spin like that? Absolutely brilliant.
Fair play for fronting this up though to be fair.

"Another headline could have been: 'Birmingham Mail and sister papers reinvent themselves for multi-media revolution'."

Mr Dyson, shame on you. If one of your subs had put a headline like that on a story concerning the loss of scores of jobs at one of the longest established businesses in the city you would have had them in your office and berated them.

You of all people should know that the crux of this story is that 65 of your dedicated staff, who have given everything you could have reasonably have asked and far more to keep your paper going, are being rewarded with the boot.

You sully the good name of your investigative journal with such a comment.

As a former proof-reader on the Mail, in the days when there were fewer mistakes in newspapers, I was saddened to read about the proposed layoffs and restructuring of the company. Newspapers here in the U.S. are having the same problems and also re-inventing themselves in many ways to stave off the inevitable. My day would not be complete without a newspaper, even though my daily's political views are diametrically opposed to mine. I have always believed that print advertising is superior to the garbage that are TV commercials, which are muted on my TV whenever they appear.

On a lighter note, I recall a Mercury theatre critic of long, long ago who decided not to attend a performance and wrote a glowing critique for the paper. Unfortunately for him and the editorial staff the show was cancelled!I can assure you that that story, which I know is a classic of journalism in many forms, is true. I was there!

By the way, would you like a stringer in a lovely city in North-Central Florida - I could use the money!

Thanks again Trinity Mirror for coming up trumps and selling this once great Birmingham institution and newspaper titles down the river.

Having worked in the local media and watched with interest since turned to pastures new I can understand the anger of the journalists at the BPM as I used to recall it was known. The parent company are no more than carpet-baggers. I do disagree with Angry about the Mercury. It has been a sensationalist rag for a few years now and as a staunch Villa fan the 'exclusive' stories on sport are as woefully inaccurate and reliable as they are on all the other national Sunday tabloids. The standards on the Mail have gone downhill and as for the Post I am amazed it is still suriving it is such an irrelvance. Good luck in trying to make something of what's left.

After my group meeting with a group Editor, which made the future of our newspapers as clear as a certain Editors private parts (as he probably has NOT seen them for a few years) due to the amount of Trinity Mirror expenses paid sandwiches that have been taken into his office over the past few years.

Quoted as saying "I didn't say anyone will have re-apply for their jobs because they won't"
"But everyone will have to apply for the new jobs in the new structure"
Well Fraid not me old mate!!!!! but my maths say the 295 does not go into 230 so that means at least 65 people if they were brave enough to venture into the new exciting move to the Fort Dunlop! Good Luck

Plenty of comment... some rhetorical, some answered by other posters, some opinion, others angry but seemingly not really seeking a reply. A few I'm keen to respond to.

Mr 'Angry': You have strong views on regional Sunday newspapers and the changes involved here, and you are entitled to them. But for the record... I’ve worked on the Mercury as a reporter, and I do have an understanding of the product; I've worked closely with current editor Dave Brookes on the proposed changes and will continue to do so throughout the transition; and I'm keen to work closely with the passion for the title, endeavouring to maintain and improve its quality. Fact is, this can no longer be done with an entirely independent team on a floor with hundreds of other journalists. Can't afford the luxury. Similarities exist now in the way many (most?) other Sundays are developing. The trick is to make this change work with the professionalism of the journalists in the new model. If it fails, guess who's name's on the can?

'Truly appalled': You refer to the dropped headline on this blog, and not to the actual. In paper, today's headline on page one of the Mail was '65 jobs set to go', and on p22, the page lead headline was '65 jobs set to go at Trinity'.

Nigel Hastilow: I'll deal with you separately. Special treatment for failed would-be MPs. Especially if they are now PRs.

I think it is very sad for all the staff involved, and I think their disappointment and anger is now being compounded by various folk outside the company with axes to grind against either the Post and Mail or Trinity Mirror.

Nigel Hastilow, you're a joke (and those of us who remember your time at the Post know you're not a funny joke).

Employee - it's obvious you are angry, but resorting to insults isn't the way to go about things.

For what it's worth, I think it's worth giving credit to Steve Dyson for blogging about this and responding. Many, many editors would just lock themselves away in an office.

"If it fails, guess who's name's on the can?"

"If it fails, guess who's name's on the can?"

Sounds more like Borat than the Editor of what used to be of the most successful regional newspapers in the country.

Blimey Grammar man, if all bloggers spent all night spotting errors on eachothers' posts then we'd be here for some time! This is instant media, man. Do you correct your kids' texts?

Anon i'm grateful to hear of your concerns, but being told I need to lose a bit of weight or being told I won't have a job in November, I know what I would rather hear! Long live Dave Brookes you'll be sorely missed, bring back people who really about newspaperswhere are you Mr Dowell? We all know who really should have been sent to Coventry!!!!!!

If I was sitting in the newsroom of the Liverpool Daily Post and Echo I would be REALLY worried now.
Oh. I am.

Steve Dyson is right when he says a brave new multi-media world has to be embraced.
However, it's disappointing to see a fine former news editor try to put a ridiculously positive spin on it. He would have quite rightly hauled his reporters over the coals had they been naive enough to swallow such a line when reporting on, say, job losses at Longbridge.
But let's not beat about the bush - the simple conclusion is that once again in the history of the Post & Mail, more work will be done by fewer journalists all in the name of keeping profits ticking over at the mother company.
As for the Mercury, an absolute travesty doesn't even begin to cover it.

Dark Day: the easiest way for an editor to have retained a certain kind of reputation may well have been to stick his/her head in the sand and to have refused to centralise resources, insisting on purely independent teams for individual titles.
But while that reputation would earn a great pint of Brew XI, a slapped back and a cheese cob in the Queens Head from some, it would be very short-lived in the eyes of the majority.
I understand yours and others' anger. I expected it; I thought very hard in the last few weeks about it. At some of those times you might think that the thought of a leaving cheque, a cheer and a new job as a PR might have been on my mind.
And so, for a moment, let's imagine the scenario if that had been the case.
Do you think it would’ve meant that these changes were delayed?
Do you really think the powers that be would say: 'Hmm, Dyson reckoned we shouldn't do that, and was so against the idea he resigned. Let's not do it.'
I'm under no illusion that some of the changes that are taking place are unpopular. And I realise some affected will need a target. (Fire away. It's good for my soul.)
What I'm focused on is the staff who want to develop their roles, those who want to maintain the profitability of a company whose success will decide the fate of our titles, those who want to move to the smartest media centre in the UK and those who want a future in journalism in 2009.
I want to ensure that as many of those staff as possible have a part in this future.
I’m very much less concerned at those who stick their heads in the sand.

Yeah, right... or was it that you didn't have another job to run to? Anyway, you've proved one thing: the 'two-way' principle of multi-media! I wasn't at the briefing, but have got my pack. The pack stinks, dunno how you briefed, but this blog is fairly open. Credit where credit's due. PS: Will this get me a job?

Hard to know where to start on this.

Who's to blame?

Is it the idiots who covered up the circulation figures for years during the 1990s and kidded the world that the Post and Mail group was selling far more than it was?
Is it the hopeless London-based management who, not content with wrecking their national stable, are truly obliterating what remains of their regional titles?
Or could we blame the good people of the Midlands who have, rather inconveniently, decided they don't want to buy these newspapers?

Whatever the reasons the decision to emasculate the Post and Mercury is extremely depressing.

In an age when Saturday sales are so important for newspapers it's tragic that the Post can't seek to maximise the opportunities that arise from the biggest shopping day of the week.

And anyone who thinks that the Mercury will be better served by this shake-up is living in cloud cuckoo land.

A Sunday team thrives on being a tight unit, working solely for exclusives and equipped with a healthy 'up yours!' atttitude' to their daily rivals. The internet has little relevance to them as they are working furiously towards one deadline a week.

Tbe lesson from nationals who've tried the 7 day route is that daily reporters - like it or not - soon see the Sunday rota as the Cinderella option mainly because it involves so much damn hard work.

I cannot believe that such an experienced journalist such as Mr Dyson can believe this a sensible way forward.

Furthermore, how can he be expected to effectively edit two newspapers for six days a week?

As ever, the Mail is the 'winner' here despite the fact that, pound for pound, it has failed to punch its weight for a decade.

But the real losers are the Brummie public who will simply have fewer stories to read about their great city.

You can't expect people to buy or even 'click' on to what is patently an inferior product.

Cheers, Trinity Mirror.

Methinks folk should stop aiming ire at Mr Dyson. It's not he who has continually underinvested in product for 30 years, treated a proud industry with contempt and then run to the hills scratching their heads when circulations plummet (thankfully there's always the net to blame, nevermind the fact that newspapers saw off the advent of radio, TV as well as the great depression and countless wars....).
SD is at least standing his ground, it would be easier to hide.
Don't hate the player, hate the game.

No head in sand here, but at least let's acknowledge what's really going on.
Like I say, the digital revolution has to be embraced, however unpallatable that may be to those who have newspapers in the soul.
However, as per an earlier comment, I'm sure we will all be watching out for news of Ms Bailey's next end of year bonus.
Another triumph for Trinity Mirror!
Not content with turning their flagship national into a pile of crap, they now want to make sure they do the same with the Mail, post and Mercury.

I'd be interested to see Mr Dyson's comments to Mr Rose-tinted Hastilow if either feels so minded.

When Mr Hastilow was in charge, being a regional newspaper editor was a job for life.

Times are a changin.

"You're right that I didn't say anyone will have to reapply for their jobs because they won't. But everyone will have to apply for the new jobs in the new structure. All jobs change.
But maybe that's a small distinction."

No, it's deliberate disingenuousness, if not a lie.

Steve:

re ... "guess who's name will be on the can?"

Did you mean to say "guess whose name will be on the can?"

I understand. Too little time, too little man power means quality can go out of the window. Online or in print.

Blimey Hackette, you're slow.... 11.52pm yesterday this was dealt with!! Read and be aware love.

A response of sorts is needed re. former Post editor Nigel Hastilow's comment on his own site, linked to above, although other posters have stolen some thunder.
Nige, as many folk know, is a raging Tory, and as such it's incredible to see his rant against plcs.
It also makes me wonder exactly how much money he made in share options when the Birmingham Post & Mail (as Midland Independent Newspapers) were first floated on the Stock Exchange in the early 1990s. (I think we should be told...)
Re. plcs, the fact is, like it or not, such organisations happen to be what the majority of regional hacks work for. End of.
Anyway, moving on, my response to his comment? I always find it sad when former employees, in this case a former editor, carp from the sidelines on how bad things are, imply how great they once were and poke criticism at those in the roles they once had. I don't really think Hasty Nige is worth much more comment than that. Except... given he enjoys his reputation as a once-fine journalist, why in the name of Enoch Powell has he not called to speak to anyone involved in these changes before making a judgment on his high-level view of things?
For his sake, I certainly hope I don't bump into him in the very near future. Unlikely, given I don't frequent champagne bars.

Quote "You're right that I didn't say anyone will have to reapply for their jobs because they won't. But everyone will have to apply for the new jobs in the new structure. All jobs change.
But maybe that's a small distinction.", Dyson.

So we don't have to re-apply but apply? A small distinction you say...?

Is English your first language?

So long and thanks for all the fish...

Anyone ever seen Pedant and Steve Dyson in the same room?

The rot set in here when Trinity Mirror took over. It soon became clear that we regionals were a cash cow to be milked to prop up the national titles of The Mirror, Sunday Mirror and Sunday People and help the company share price.
It has been a history of cuts, cuts and more cuts. Closure of district offices, failure to replace staff, cutbacks in pagination - the list is endless.
Reporters are now just rehashing press releases and agency copy, continually working unpaid overtime just to get a paper out.
The proof of this is in the products you see on sale today - bland, lifeless ad rags, in the main.
The only stories that stand out are the ones a writer has actually had a chance to work on.
They also sold our city centre offices to make a fast buck. Rather than pay to stay in town, with the identity and prestige that should come with being a big city paper, we are having to uproot to Fort Dunlop at the side of the M6 - a site that is next to impossible to get to without driving but where there's not enough car parking for all the staff (what's going to be left of the them). Utter madness. Can you imagine the London Evening Standard re-locating to an industrial estate somewhere near Heathrow Airport? I think not.
Sly Bailey and her mob deserve shooting for what they have done to us in Birmingham and the industry in general. They might print newspapers but they don't know a bloody thing about them or the people who produce them. Not that they give a toss anyway.

Enjoying taking the punishment for the incompetence of Ms Bailey and her cohorts, Mr Dyson? Happy to be tagged forever as a yes man? Where's Sly's blog, that's what we all want to read..

Trinity Mirror made a profit of £80m for the first six months of this year. Isn't that a 'luxury we can ill afford' in these days of economic strife?

Is Sly worth her £1.5m earnings for the past financial year? Working on a £20,000 per year average salary (probably on overestimate) for 65 jobs I make that about £200,000 more than the slash and burn victims earn in a year - for achieving what? A trained chimp could reduce headcounts, and probably have a better idea of the needs of a modern newspaper group.

And isn't it shameful that two cities the size of Birmingham will have just 265 journalists to cover them. For every theatre review, for every football match, for everything that happens in the lives of more than two million people - with pages layout and no doubt primary-school level 'multimeejah' garbage to go with it.

Roll on BBC local, destroy the local newspaper PLCs once and for all and return newspapers to the hands of their local communities once and for all. Of course, then there'll be no need for the Sly Baileys of this world. Or the Steve Dysons.

Again, I understand the anger. But the last posters, dubbing themselves 'Unemployable' and 'Mr Osato' respectively, say so much about the cynics.
So... Blofeld speaking now...
Yes, everyone on the newsfloor is currently worried about what the new process means, how they fit in and what they should do next. (And, one by one, the editors will spend as much time with each individual going through all the questions they have, trying to reassure and, importantly, encouraging some great people to believe in themselves, that their attitude and quality will equal a good job shaped for what's ahead.)
But current worries aside, the last two guys sound like some of the sad fellas I know who have been saying the same sort of thing for nearly 20 years (or are they perhaps newer staff who for some reason feel in awe of such individuals?).
I and the other editors have a enormous amount of time and energy to lead, nurture and provoke the brilliance of so many of the staff we have. And this we will do. Nothing will stop us.
The majority will eventually come to see those cynics for what they are... often embittered people, (often embittered at life in general, but work get's it).
This week is a big one, and it's a tough one. But over the next few days, during this weekend, the overwhelming quality we have in so many staff will, I believe, start to question the tactics of those who, perhaps if we're honest, have been dragging this place down for far too long.
Because there are passionate people, others will feel this anger and cynicism too, and they will express it. And they should.
But when the mist clears, and when minds refocus, only those who have become parodies of an age that never was will lose out.
And a last word on our lords and masters. Whoever they are, and in our case it's Sly and Trinity Mirror, whoever they are they are ALL facing the same downturn, which is severe. Hark back all you like to decisions in past years you disagree with (and while you're at it, count on one finger the number of redundancies at the Birmingham Mail in the last three years). Hark back all you like, but be very clear: we do nothing, and titles will go out of existence very soon.
Which is why we are doing something... and which is why we will survive.

Cynics? Really? Well what did you expect? I think your staff can be forgiven a little cynicism when they are treated like sh*t...

So now you're moderating replies? Freedom of speech dies...

Like most I am sad and dismayed at what is happening with the newspapers that I love. Growing up in the West Midlands, it was always my ambition to work for the Post and Mail. The nationals held no appeal, as the real stories came from regional papers.

But if we are to apportion blame, lets keep it real. I have know Marc Reeves since the mid eighties, I first met Steve Dyson during the Stephanie Slater kidnapping and have nothing but respect for Dave Brookes. Those of us that work at BPM have seen (or not seen as has been much o the case) the number of meetings that the guys have been through over the last few weeks.

I know these people and know that what they want is more staff, not less. Despite what others may say, these men are professional journalists trying to make the best of a (very) bad situation.

I know people need to vent some rage, but it needs to be vented in the right direction...Canary Wharf!

To imagine what has been going through the minds of the editors of late let me quote the story of The Sword of Damocles (would any of us want to be in that situation....?)

"Damocles was an excessively flattering courtier in the court of Dionysius II of Syracuse, a fourth century BC tyrant of Syracuse. He exclaimed that, as a great man of power and authority, Dionysius was truly fortunate. Dionysius offered to switch places with him for a day, so he could taste first hand that fortune. In the evening a banquet was held, where Damocles very much enjoyed being waited upon like a king. Only at the end of the meal did he look up and notice a sharpened sword hanging by a single piece of horsehair directly above his head. Immediately, he lost all taste for the fine foods and beautiful boys, and asked leave of the tyrant, saying he no longer wanted to be so fortunate."

It's not all fine wine and bacon butties.....

Can I just ask all these ranting and raving journalists - do you not realise you work for a publicly limited company?

There are many of us out here in the world that work for similar companies and, when they need to cut costs, they inevitably cut staff. Look at all the construction workers who have just lost their jobs due to the credit crunch.

PLCs have to because they have to serve their shareholders first and foremost - like it or not.

Also for the chief executive to take a massive pay cut would give a really bad signal to the market that would see shares tumbling further (and they're pretty low right now anyway)

I'm not saying what's happening to you all is good. It's horrific for individuals and not great for journalism and you do have my sympathies in that regard.

I also think you may have a case to say the UK newspaper industry as a whole was slow to react to the threat of the Internet (newspapers in other countries did and better off as a result).

It seems to me that innovation hasn't traditionally been a high investment priority for regional newspaper groups.

And yes, I have heard that Steve Dyson is only a recent convert to the idea that print products and the concept of "exclusives" may need to change because of the web

In that regard your Blofeld is probably more of a traditional newspaper man than you give him credit for - I imagine the transition to what we see in the post above would have taken a lot of soul-searching for someone with such a love-affair with print.

But when I read all these angry comments, I get the impression that journalists don't really understand the business that they are in.

Shout at your editor, shout at your chief executive, shout at the world if it makes you feel better - but until one of you is brave enough to concieve and execute a new model for funding journalism that exists outside of the PLC structure, convince your shareholders to take your company private or run to the BBC then I'm afraid you are going to have to expect and prepare for this sort of thing to happen.

As an aside - Mr Dyson: Where are your fellow editors on all this? You seem to be taking the public knocks, but I assume it wasn't all your idea.

As a complete aside, I notice that the Express & Star's 'report' on the Post & Mail shenanigans used excerpts of this blog as their basis for quoting Steve Dyson. How shameful! Whatever happened to proper journalism rather than just cutting and pasting from t'internet. That's almost the biggest sadness. That the problems at the Post & Mail leave the cut and paste E&S in the pound seats.

Lets look at the real facts, We all saw this coming, the newspaper industry is a lame animal, advertising revenue is on it's arse but when you see Ad Reps stood outside the building smoking fags every 30min consistantly failing to sell advertising space, probably due to the fact they've had all the commission incentives taken away by Trinity Mirror there's no wonder we are here today!
As for giving the public what they want each Birmingham title has it's own readership market, Birmingham Post sits on the coffee tables and reception desks of City traders, The Sunday Mercury is the controversial nitty gritty paper with balls, that most people like to read, but the Mail really has lost it's identity Mr Dyson numerous waste of money relaunches, green campaigns that nobody cares about a new website that already looks older than an 'Amstrad 64' (just take a peak at the New York Times website thats how a newspaper website should look).
We've all read this consultation Document put together by the likes, of Reeves, Dyson, Brown and the hatchet man himself i always seem to end up with a better job after every round of redundancies Ray Dunn! well maybe we've got it wrong but, I think the Trinity Mirror bosses frightened you all into putting this joke of a proposal together, but it doesn't take a Bafoon to see that even you don't know how this is going to work, you've all been asked numerous times by editorial employees during group consultations how this plan is going to work and neither of you (Reeves/Dyson) know the answer? Well its about time you were told, WE HAVE NO CONFIDENCE IN YOU! ITS TIME TO DO THE HONORABLE THING AND GO NOW!!!!!!!!!

Holding back collegues blogs now! Coward!

Hilarious. I feel a nerve has been touched!

I can't be bothered staying up for a point-by-point rebuttal (or to correct the literals) - but I'd love to know how Mr Dyson's posts sit with the views expressed in this (relatively) recent blog

http://blogs.birminghammail.net/editorschair/2008/05/economic-doom-merchants-take-a.html

I think the post title says it all - "Economic doomsayers... TAKE A HIKE!" (Mr D's caps)

And for the record, 20 years ago I was just starting secondary school - God that makes me feel young, for the first time in ages! Thanks Blofeld!

I've just stumbled across this blog and first of all, I want to say how sorry I am to see so many job losses. Redundancies are all too commonplace across the board in the industry, (whether it's on the regionals or the nationals where I work) and I've been unlucky enough to work on a couple of papers where people around me were losing their jobs.

I have the utmost respect for Steve Dyson for taking on all-comers here. And if the paper is half as good a read as this blog and its comments are, I can understand why it sells so many.

But Steve, if you are going to be open about all of this, I think you should come clean and admit that the first comment posted has you bang to rights. Saying staff don't need to reapply for jobs when the alternative is, er, not keeping their job, seems pretty clear cut to me.

Anyway, I wish the best of luck to all your staff. I used to know someone who may even still be there as your health reporter. I hope she and the rest of you come out of this relatively unscathed.

xx

Fellow plc employee: Yes, Steve is taking more than his fair share of flack over this. Steve and I have been working on this plan, together with the other Midlands editors, for the past three months or so.
Has it been easy? No.
Have we had our disagreements? You bet your em rule we have.
Have we had run-ins with Canary Wharf? What do you think?
Do we believe this is the best, the most appropriate response to the situation this entire industry finds itself in? Too right we do.
Are we enjoying it? Not much.
The vitriol expressed in this comments thread is entirely understandable, but, please folks, don't kid yourself that the challenges facing the Midlands are isolated difficulties for this region alone. Please do a few Google searches and investigate the fates of newspaper titles around the world.
Guess what? The newspaper businesses enjoying the most success are the ones that have already thrown off the anachronistic habits we're belatedly tackling and have at the same time stopped competing with themselves to fight off the threat from broadcasters and those damned irrititating webby upstarts.
Believe me, it would be so much more convenient for me to put my fingers in my ears, avoid looking at the inevitable - and take the redundancy cheque myself. But - you know what - I happen to believe in the value of the Post, the Mail and the Merc, and I'd rather stand up and fight positively for their future than avoid the difficult decisions I think editors are paid to tackle.

So in the big plan you "require fewer journalistic staff"?

*shudder*

And that's going to help improve the quality of the stories in these papers/websites? Fewer hangers-on management types maybe.

Titles pooling resources, yes, makes sense - fewer journalists.....suicide. Oh well, seems the Mail's carboot sale and primary school nativity play stories are going to have to fill the Post now too. Ugh.

Speaking as someone who cut their journalistic teeth on the Merc, and the Post and Mail to a lesser degree, I'm deeply saddened by BPM's demise.
Of course the mooted changes are down to harsh financial reality, but the real inquest should focus on just how this once great group became such a dismal failure, not the size of Two Dinners Dyson's waistline.
The answer, it strikes me, is actually fairly simple: appalling mismanagement. If ever there were an example of how NOT to run newspapers, TM would be it.
The short, sharp truth is that for years the BPM titles have been in the hands of people at the very top who have no journalistic background and no real vision for the future. The Mail, during my few years at Weaman St, went through two significant relaunches under two different editors, with little discernible improvement. Its 'hyper-local' focus clearly isn't working now either - in fact I reckon most Brummies find the paper downright dull. After all, the circulation haemorrhage can't just be down to ailing market conditions, shurely?
The Post ceased to be a heavyweight presence a decade ago, without the investment to match The Mail. And as for The Merc...well. Many would have said that with a little investment, instead of slash and burn, it could have been even better, despite its unashamedly sensationalist slant. As has already been passionately argued, its record for producing fine (and note to Steve, interesting) stories and equally fine reporters over the years comfortably outstrips its two stable mates.
But all this aside, I wonder if everyone should take a step back and reconsider Steve's/TM management's reasons for justifying this sea change in how the papers will be run?
I'm fully signed up to the digital future by the way - any newspaper reporter wanting a career for the next 30 years would be.
But for some reason I just can't buy the vision being sold here.
Can anyone reading this discussion imagine either one of the UK's two most successful news media organisations - like News Corp or Associated - arguing that their operations would be better served by losing that percentage volume of staff?
I reckon the answer is a simple 'No'. You might not like what those two companies stand for, but they invest in their papers, invest in their journalists and invest in the future.
And that's really the key here. Investment ultimately reaps bigger, better rewards for shareholders, because eventually it kills off the weaker, poorly-structured rivals - like Trinity Mirror - altogether.
TM in contrast is a shambles. There's barely a success story left in its stable now. Its national papers are like terminally ill patients - wheezing their way towards inevitable decline. And sadly - and I feel I'm saying what a lot of people already think here - their regional titles are nearly at the finishing line already.
I'd be interested to hear other's thoughts on whether they think the Mail/Merc/Post are now merely in palliative care.
I'm sad to say I do - that's certainly why I got out. I just can't see a future for all three papers in Brum: even if they do 'reinvent themselves for the multi-media revolution'.
And I'm sorry Steve, the more I read your opening blog on this subject, the more I'm reminded of Alan Partridge pitching hopeless ideas to a BBC exec over lunch.
Monkey tennis anyone?

Vituperative personal attacks are not the way forward here , for we all know that if it wasn't Billy Bunter in the chair it would be some oleaginous corporate clone from the bunker at Canary Wharf handing out the invitations ( ha!) to our Brave New Digital World.

I would implore Mr. D. to eschew the horny-handed " Son of Brum " approach though, viz last Tuesdays staff briefing , as it sticks in the craw of those of us who shortly will have no job , with kids to feed and a mortgage to pay.

If you need a professional " Brummie " to do your dirty work , you can always send for Carl Chinn.

God help us.

I wonder how long it will be before the Mail goes overnight, like the Coventry Telegraph! Not long, I think.

Whatever did happend to that disgraced management buy out mob who took over in the 90's and decided it was a bright idea to pump up the circulation figures ? They walked away with their millions but could not have cared less about the reputation of the BPM.Were this shameful bunch ever prosecuted ?

Dyson, you're a babe!

In the words of David Essex:

Take a look around you at the world we've come to know
Does it seem to be much more than a crazy circus show
But maybe from the madness something beautiful will grow
In a brave new world
With just a handful of men
We'll start - we'll start all over again - all over again - all over again - all over again

Many thanks to all involved for fully embracing the two-way multi media future on this blog since Tuesday.
For info, and to put one or two of you right, although entries may have been subject to usual post-moderation by staff, I've not personally edited or removed anyone's words. Nor have I asked for any to receive any such attention.
On the content itself, although it was not the original intention, a small part of the consultation is now happening by blog. Amazing stuff. The relevant points have been picked up, and some are worth real consideration, so thanks for that too.
To those with peculiar axes... whatever.
My only real criticism of such content are the cloaks of anonymity. I can understand staff members' reluctance to named, but virtually all outsiders and former staff members are seemingly beefing up 'courage' by hiding who they are. Bizarre.
Final point: my N95 arrived today, a very small part of the multi-media future we are entering. Watch out for a new blog describing how I get on with it next week.

Dyson, darling you're hilarious. you really are a self-important pompous oaf. You must think the world revolves around you. Who cares about you and your poxy N95. God help us if you're the best they can find to lead us into the multi-media revolution. I bet you're already congratulating yourself on the success of your blog.

Hi Steve,
Surely the point with the anonymity is that it's about the content, not personalities.
I realise that can't apply to you - and I sympathise. I'm sure "a rock and a hard place" doesn't even begin to cover it.
However, it's a measure of how much many of us ex-Post & Mailers think about the company and its papers that we're adding our voice to the disappointment of what is happening to great regional newspaper titles under Trinity Mirror.
That doesn't mean we don't still love you ;-)
Indeed, I'm sure in many ways you're probably as gutted as everyone else.
To show there's no hard feelings I'll take you for that Brew XI next time I'm in Brum.

Your N95? A phone that was top of the range for about ten minutes last year? Your swanky new multimedia newsroom is going to be obsolete by the time the cheap paint is dry. Any moron can film themselves standing in Victoria Square talking to the general public about whatever's been going on in Brum today. They'll have to if all your remaining drones are stuck miles out of the city in Fort Dunlop. Don't get me wrong Mr Dyson, I respect you for talking about this in the open, I understand the need for change and for journalists to adapt to embrace new ways of working. But this isn't about changing the BPM to cope with the future, this is about Trinity Mirror making cuts where it shouldn't and paying fat cats it can do without, like Sly Bailey. So don't treat us like we're a bunch of idiots.

N95 cynics: I did say "a very small part of the multi-media future". Perhaps you are unaware of what equipment reporters currently have.
Dark Day: Re. 'rock and a hard place', I prefer my head above the parapet. Daft thing is, each post also comes to my email inbox with the sender's address. While some also set up anon emails, you and others didn't, so I know who you are any way! But don't worry, any anon request should be respected in such circs, and I will do so.
What I would say specifically to you, though, is that those like you now in the PR world have already made their choices and, I'm sure you'll understand, this choice has somewhat relegated the worth of their views on journalism in my mind.
(That aside, it was nice to have triggered memories of that blinding night in Hastings!)
Over and out for now.

something blinded u!

EACH email Steve ?

even the posters who don't submit an email address ?

The only way you could see an email address was if this was blog was via an email facility, and it's not.

The only other thing you could possibly get from posts submitted via the web would be an IP address.

With a whois lookup you may be able to get a posters ISP , but they won't divulge personal details , not even to a man as large and powerful as you Steve.

So , the only email addresses you have been seeing are the ones submitted via the online form.

Hardly a cloak on anonymity.

Steve Dyson wrote... Daft thing is, each post also comes to my email inbox with the sender's address. While some also set up anon emails, you and others didn't, so I know who you are any way!

That’s a typically weak attempt at intimidation which incredibly makes you look even more stupid than your early postings esp as someone’s already called your bluff. Haha. AND you do not have to be Miss Marple to see numerous identities on this blog where a cynic might suggest its YOU cowardly hiding over things you dare not put your name to me old loverocket, queen st joker, pedant, etc Wouldn't anyone stupid enough to be sucking up to you want you to know it was them?The only pro-Dyson post we can be sure of is from Marc Reeves – ALLEGEDLY!

I was happy to put my email address down because I was never trying to hide my identity from you dear heart - never doubted that you would be getting to see identities and I have nothing to hide from you.
I look forward to carrying this on over a pint and a cheese roll.
As for the relevance or irrelevance of comments from certain quarters, who do you think urges certain companies to advertise with regional newspapers?
Unfortunately, the more and more that companies like Trinity Mirror compromise the quality of those newspapers and editorial outputs, the more and more difficult it becomes to make those recommendations sincerely.
A dark day all round I'd say.

I worked as a casual sub on all three papers back in 2002 - the year that social media took off, believe it or not - so Web 2.0 was already impacting way back then. Until this year, though, newspapers have commonly been seen as the primary product and websites secondary. Then in recent months there has been an unprecented rush over to new media. And finally, the black day has come.

My advice to individual journalists facing redundancy? If you don't have or don't want a place in the new Trinity Mirror regime, then set up and nurture your own ‘brand’. I met an ex-regional sports editor at an NUJ meeting a year or so ago who went independent and had already claimed £65k in advertising for his site. Another travel writer earns around £5k a month from getting in there early with his specialist subject area.

So if you have skills, look ahead, think ahead and get smart – it’s the only defence. And for the angry posters, it may be the ultimate payback. After all, it’s very possible that it will be traditional publishers who will get taken out of the equation - not you, the content creator!

I know many people who have already been ousted over recent years and consultancy visits at TRM Midlands – so I am very sorry to hear of so many more. I fear for the brand because without decent content who will loyally click and read, and consequently who will pay to access few readers?

What hasn't been mentioned here is that the Trinity Midlands portfolio stretches far beyond the Mail, Post, Merc etc. This is where the weakness really lies...why would TM try and sell the whole Midlands business if was part of its core plan. Many of these regional frees and paid-fors are number 2 or worse in their market place. With the bottom dropping out of the advertising market, particularly housing and in the face of competition then there were bound to be casualties.

It is a shame that jobs have to go, but the points about journalistic excellence and connecting this with what readers/consumers want I think is not quite right. If this were the case, the Post would have the highest readership of any Midlands paper (in my opinion). Sport sells papers, in particular Football, so the titles must ensure that it retains or creates excellence in this are, but as for news, I am not so sure that people care that much for it - just look at the turn out at election-time to realise how irrelevant politics is to a large proportion of the population.

Finally, the newspaper is a business. I am sure people would all like it to be something different, but it needs to make money. Guess what, the cover price doesn't make up much of the revenue for the paper. Advertising is what pays the bills. If advertising declines, so does the profitability of the paper. Therefore why does Mr.Dyson seem to be shouldering the blame for this?

The apathy and 'dumbing-down' of the general public and the decline in local and national ad revenues have far more to blame than SD.

The current restructuring in Trinity Mirror midlands is a travesty. Not because all journos have to wake up to the divergence of print and internet – they after all should be at the coal face of reporting, digesting, commenting, analyzing and directly inputting their comment and news direct into print and online – the travesty is the need to cut jobs when content surely now is key.

The travesty is that the company in its latest accounts is still making 20% profit, unless the market has imploded since the latest set of accounts (1/8/08). Possible. The shareholders and directors have had it ood for 10 years – they don’t like it up them now.

It seems that eventually the powers at the various regional cash cow newspaper groups – are suddenly getting the medicine which was predicted 10years ago. No investment, no forward looking, no planning, squeeze costs, ride unprecedented property and recruitment revenues and whoops we are where we are. Of course with a hole in the pension fund, imminent debt repayments, more ad revenue decline, paper bound to go up in price - the climate for change couldn’t be worse. A little too late

The good news for good journos is that there is a new world out there – some groups have got it together like the BBC (with our money) some nationals are pretty much sorted. Surely some of the regionals will get there but maybe a little slow of the blocks.

This will inevitably throw up new opportunities for those who dare to publish.

Lets hope TM gets sold quick to new owners with vision for good content rich products. I also dare to say - the redundancies planned the axing of the Post’s Sat issue will not improve pretty poor content which has been a trademark since the days of hastilow et al.

The titles need vision, investment and content – TM are waking up because the business model is failing - shame they didn’t listen a little earlier.

Hello i'm an N95 mobile phone, i'm clever, whitty, cheap, i don't answer back or write vindictive blogs, take video clips, high quality photo's, i'll even take a nominal redundancy offer if asked, i'll change th future for ever, and when i'm feeling low and short of energy and enthusiasm just plug me into the mains and soon be feeling fully recharged and revitalised for another day at the daily grind stone

Good Luck, but remember i'm ot a TM sandwich so please don't eat me!

I think the whole anonymous arguement is a bit flawed in this case anyway. For one, as the blog author, Steve will get to see the IP address of the sender. If this matches the IP address within the company, then, if Steve were so minded, it wouldn't take long to trace who'd written it, based on the fact I expect TM, like most companies, has the capacity to monitor what staff do on computers (just because people don't get told off or sacked everytime they look at ebay, Amazon or Facebook at work doesn't mean IT don't know what is going on).
But away from the technology, those people who say they are staff have quite probably given themselves away with the contents of their comments. Often, someone who thinks they are being particularly witty (or bitter) can't help but repeat what they've written, or at least point it out to others.
So here's a question: Why bother with fake names at all?

Let's embrace the brave new world of multimedia right now and start another thread so I don't have to scroll down for minutes to get to new comments. Aggravates the RSI I picked up in the service of the Birmingham Post. No, I know it doesn't officially exist - RSI, I mean ... Post.

Here's another question .

Why bother with being Anonymous , when you're clearly Big Steve ?

Dark Day: Fair comment. I think I now understand what you are saying (re. anonymity/emails). And, genuinely, I’m pleased for you that you appear positive about the PR industry. I’ll hold you to that Brew XI and cheese whirl (although I’d prefer Black Sheep and scratchings if your next visit coincides with the right guest cycle at The Bull).
Bootless and Dizzy-eyed/Jane M: Don’t be daft (re. IP addresses). Follow the thread. The anonymity exchange began because I was interested as to why outsiders (former staff, etc) were adopting pseudonyms. Nearly all whom I assume are internal commenters have created nicknames and left emails off, and I understand that. I certainly have no interest (or time) to witch-hunt… I invited and welcome all comment and opinion. And to the same pair (or one person?), delude at your will but my own comments all appear under Steve Dyson.

Any of you keyboard warriors got a 'magic bullet' which would return profits and share prices to a healthy level without the need for job losses and restructure? If so I'm sure newspaper bosses around the country would be keen to hear from you.

The newspaper industry has never been about the news, it's about delivering an audience to advertisers. The rest is simple economics, reduced income equals cut backs.

Steve, it's great to see you attempting to handle the flak online, there's not many who would.

BTW this blog entry and the ensuing comments would provide fantastic material for a multimedia journalism dissertation.

The Post, the Mail and the Merc are three very different papers, with very distinct voices and priorities. My fear is that having staff writing across all titles will eventually - no matter how talented the writing staff - cause a homogenisation of these titles which eventually will culminate in alienating existing readers.

The multimedia element of this also seems somewhat of a red herring. Digital convergence is definitely the only way regional news will survive, but (certainly based on the info in the public domain that I've read) these measures seem to be more about reducing headcount in editorial across three print newsrooms than encouraging multimedia journalism in practical terms. It's such a shame when the relaunched Post, Mail and Telegraph sites have been looking so ace lately and more journalists than ever before seem to be involved in the online proposition. I understand even editors are blogging nowadays...!

This is really sad news for the regional press in Brum (and let's not forget the Coventry Telegraph and the Northampton titles which seem to be often overlooked) and I'm so sorry not only for my former colleagues (no anonymity here) but also for the legacy of some cracking regional papers which I fear are heading for a further downward spiral. I really do hope I'm wrong.

Dear Mr Dyson,
This morning I have sat and read all the comments on your blog. The anger felt by the many posters is more than understandable - after all they have no idea what their future holds and are scared - but I find your flippant answers to their comments most worrying.
Did you ever think, when you were a new, young journalist, that one day you would become the company's yes man. I'm sure, like most of us, you despised this character, bitched about him/her around the coffee machine and swore that if you took over you would never become like them.
Well, you must feel very proud of yourself now - you have managed to lose all the respect of your staff and readers (and there aren't many of either to go round).
As someone who knows a little more about life than you, one day, in the not too distant future, it will be your job on the line and there will be no-one left to fight for you. Or at least any one left with any respect for you.
And when you look back on your life do you honestly think you will be glad of what you have done, or perhaps you will wish you had the balls to fight for the jobs of people you used to call friends - even at the expense of your own job.
Well done, Mr Dyson.

'What goes around': You’re entitled to your opinion and perception, but appear to either know very little about or to ignore the facts. Many of those facts are discussed above by me and others, so I won't repeat them in detail. Suffice it to say that I prefer to be here, dealing with the tough side of editing, than at home, with a pay-off and a PR job, watching a process that would take place anyway but which I would have no control over. Though we would love to, we journalists do not live in a bubble. And while I wish that editing was only about exclusives, awards, campaigns, great stories and exposes, etc, the truth has always been that it ain't. We are also paid to manage editorial resource, and we can no longer afford the same level of resource. My sole intention is to work through this situation to ensure that the best possible titles exist at the end of it, employing the most (and the best) people possible. That won't be everybody, but my own opinion is that to bury my head in the sand about this would be irresponsible. And to refuse to act to the point of resignation would be cowardly. But thank you anyway for your comments.

Well said Steve. Despite what some people think, I always found you to be honest and fair. Sometimes tough decisions have to be made and if you hadn't done it, someone else would have quite happily stepped in and done it. Better the devil you know.

'What goes around' makes a good point which you ignored. 65 people will find themselves out of a job. Your remarks aimed at those have been unecessarily callous.

Great that you keep the best people, but don't forget that those you lose might be scared about the future. This isn't the X-Factor so you don't need to be so flippant.

I agree with Rob T above.
I have to say I think Steve is in a pretty impossible position and deserves credit for coming out and facing the music in this blog.
He is quite clearly trying to make the best of a bad job and is putting his head about the parapet while those above at Trinity Mirror remain faceless.
But while talk of all the new tec