NUJ: Archant redundancies will mean more work and more stress for already overburdened staff

The National Union of Journalists  has just issued this statement on the Archant redundancies:

Archant has announced changes to its content operation which could result in the loss of up to 57 jobs and the creation of 40 new roles. Design and production of the company’s newspapers will be separated from the content creation function with a centralised production unit in Norwich responsible for all print titles.

Archant publishes 50 weekly newspapers the south of England and four East Anglian dailies: the Eastern Daily Press, Ipswich Star, East Anglian Daily Times and the Norwich Evening News.

Andy Smith, NUJ national executive member, said:

We are extremely concerned by the news of the proposed job losses at Archant.

The union has yet to meet Archant management formally to discuss the proposals, but the there is little in the reported statements from Jeff Henry, chief executive, or Matt Kelly, chief content officer, to indicate how moving to an ‘audience first’ approach can justify the loss of at least 17 jobs.

Putting 57 staff at risk of redundancy, particularly at this time of year, will be incredibly stressful for them all, and our first responsibility is to support our members through this process. Though the consultation is at a very early stage, it is difficult to see how these proposals can have any other effect than to impose more work and more stress on an already overburdened staff still coming to terms with the effects of the photographer redundancies made earlier this year.

Quoted in the Press Gazette, Matt Kelly said: “Editing the newspaper will be done with a very light touch from title editors – I do not want editors spending hours deciding between the page 9 and page 15 leads, or coping with the perennial last minute need for dozens of fillers to complete news pages.”

He said the new “content rooms” will be “less hierarchical” under the proposed changes.

How much will your school's budget be cut by 2020 - figures here

At yesterday's meeting for governors Gail Tolley, Brent Strategic Director for Children and Families, said the most pressing issue for Brent schools in the future would not be multi-academy trusts or grammar schools but budget cuts and the new funding formula.

Below I publish a spreadsheet from School Cuts with projected budgets for 2020 showing the extent of the expected cuts. Coupled with current problems in recruiting and retaining both class teachers and senior staff this represents a major challenge to maintain current educational standards.

The basis of the calculations can be found HERE

Click on bottom right for full size workbook. Search facility is top right in full size workbook: (...)

Tarmac likely to give Brent Council a sticky time at Willesden Connects on Wednesday

Willesden residents are being urged by the Resistance Against Tarmac campaign LINK to attend Willesden Connects next week to register their opposition to paving stones being replaced by tarmac on local streets.

Residents can book a 'soapbox' to speak about lcoal issues that concern them. Register for a soapbox giving name and topic at the email below.

Wednesday, 9 November 2016
6.30pm

The Library at Willesden Green, First Floor, 95 High Road, Willesden NW10 2SF

Agenda 

• Vision for Brent: Priorities and tackling challenges facing the borough
  • Council Leader, Muhammed Butt
  • Deputy Leader, Margaret McLennan
• Making scrutiny count in Brent
• It’s time to talk…hate crime in Brent: an event for your diary

If you are unable to attend, please share your ideas with us by emailing: brent.connects@brent.gov.uk

During the break, there will be an opportunity to talk to ward councillors, local safer neighbourhood team, guest speakers and council officers.

Archant redundancies likely to hit Kilburn Times

Norwich based Archant, publishers of the Brent and Kilburn Times, and many other local papers, has announced a new 'audience led' strategy which will see News Editors replaced by 'content editors; who will oversee a system in which digital content will feed straight into the printed paper.

Redundancy notices were being issued today by email and are likely to include Lorraine King, veteran news editor of the Brent and Kilburn Times.   King's strength has been the fact that she is firmly part of the local community and has been unafraid to campaign on issues such as retention of local libraries, saving Stonebridge Adventure Playground and the future of Central Middlesex Hospital.

Importantly King has not given in to pressure from Brent Council's political leadership to adopt a more friendly approach to the Council. LINK

Staff will be only offered statutory redundancy pay.

There was a wave of redundancies in 2011-12 at Archant which eventually left the Kilburn Times with the equivalent of 1-1/2 reporters, now the combined role will be equivalent to one person running the newspaper AND website.

Readers will have noticed how the number of pages of the BKT has shrunk in the past few years which means that many stories that are published on the web do not make it into the print edition. This can be frustrating for local people who want to see their cause given publicity.

Archant seems determined that they will not suffer the fate of the Wembley/Harrow Observer which switched to 'digital only' and in the guise of Get West London LINK has all but disappeared.

Matt Kelly, Archant's chief 'contents officer' said LINK :

Our strategy to be more relevant than ever before is not dependent on platform.

Our strategy begins and ends with our audience. That’s why we describe our approach, quite simply, as audience-first.

Editing the newspaper will be done with a very light touch from title editors – I do not want editors spending hours deciding between the page 9 and page 15 leads, or coping with the perennial last minute need for dozens of fillers to complete news pages.”

I think the results are stunning, and that both you and – even more importantly – our readers will love them.

Senior reporters and specialists will be encouraged to publish direct to digital and – liberated from the domineering task of filling the newspaper – I expect to see us create even more content than we do today.

To facilitate the easy production of the newspaper, we will create content in pre-ordained styles that will both look great online and in print. But the practice of holding content back for print will end, with very few exceptions.

In a nutshell, I am asking us to stop editing a newspaper, and instead edit the community we serve.

This sounds remarkably like a print edition of the web-pages and with the accompanying centralisation perhaps less sensitive to local issues.

A spokesperson for the NUJ told me this afternoon that they were still in meetings about the changes but stated that they were very concerned about the impact on the quality of journalism and the service local newspapers give their readers.  In particular they had had nothing from Archant on how the remaining staff would cope with the new workload and were concerned about their members' well-being.

I hope the NUJ, as they did in 2011, will put up a fight for their journalists, but meanwhile I salute Lorraine King and her other news editor colleagues for the job they have done in maintaining a robust scrutiny of local democracy and publicising and often backing local campaigns.

Our democracy cannot afford to lose this essential service, unfortunately with one person being left to cover the whole borough and the inevitable impact on the quality of the newspaper, I can see the eventual demise of the Brent and Kilburn Times.

Has Sam Stopp been shot down over Heathrow?

Cllr Sam Stopp announced a week or so ago that he was seeking the Labour nomination for Richmond on a pro-Heathrow, pro-growth, pro-jobs ticket.

More recently he announced that he had been long-listed for the nomination.  Today his Labour councillor colleague Cllr Neil Nerva posted the above tweet on Facebook.  It says:

@Cllr Stopp

I would've stood as a pro-Heathrow candidate for #RichmondPark NEC wants anti-Heathrow candidate, which makes me wonder why we're standing.

I can't see that tweet on Stopp's timeline now LINK  but that is not surprising. Stopp has deleted nearly all of his tweets many of which backed Owen Smith in the Labour leadership election and criticised Jeremy Corbyn.  One tweet stated he was ashamed that Brent Central CLP had backed Corbyn and another accused Labour colleagues of refusing to allow him into a meeting about the Labour leadership.

Stopp's twitter account now shows just 28 tweets akthough there are 1,970 'likes':

All rather strange.  It is not clear whether this marks the end of his Richmond Park bid or whether he is still in the race.

For the record this is what Stopp said previously about the Richmond Park by-election:

Lucas: Parliament must debate and vote on triggering Article 50

Caroline Lucas MP has responded to the High Court ruling that the Government does not have power to trigger Article 50 without a vote in Parliament.

Lucas, Green Party co-leader, said:

We welcome this ruling which shows that Ministers do not have the power to trigger Article 50 without consulting Parliament.

Parliament must have the opportunity to debate and vote on triggering Article 50, rather than a group of Ministers at the top table having total control over this country’s future place in the world.

The Green Party will continue to fight to protect free movement, workers’ rights and the vital environmental protections we currently have as part of the EU.

Sufra call for fair treatment of employees by small businesses

The Newsletters from Mohammed S Mamdani of Sufra NW London, who run a foodbank, edible garden, cooking classes and  a pop-up restaurant are always interesting.  They combine reflections on current issues with practical organising. This is the latest Newsletter:

Let's take a stand against  unscrupulous businesses
 

If there is anything that bothers me most, it’s cheating people. Especially those who have no option or choice but to comply. I’ll cut to the chase. What I mean is, I can’t stand it when people get screwed over by those who can afford that little bit more.

Farida is a single mother who attends the Community Kitchen on a weekly basis, with her 9-year-old son. She was employed by a hairdresser on minimum wage, £7.20 per hour for 16 hours per week. Well, that’s what her contract says. At the end of month, after completing her due hours, her employer transferred £300 into her bank account and gave her a pay-slip for £518.40. In effect, she was paid just £4.17 per hour, well below the minimum wage. Illegal, unethical and frankly, outrageous.

Her story is by no means unusual. I’ve even heard stories of people working for weeks (regrettably without contracts) and being paid nothing at all. After 3 years of working at the food bank, you begin to recognise these nasty trends.

The logical assumption is that this is easily solvable. Report to HMRC. Call ACAS. I tried everything. It’s just not worth their while to investigate one complainant at some small business down some alleyway in Harlesden (no offence). No one gives a damn about the little people. Even less, if they don’t know how the system works, speak with an accent or are simply desperate.  

So, who are these deceitful employers? Yes, there are the likes of Sports Direct, who after much uncomfortable media attention decided to atone publicly for their sins, but I’m thinking of those small businesses close to home. The barber down the road. The takeaway where you stop off on your way home from work and the dodgy electrician who always seems to have a lackey to do the dirty work.

I’m not here to hound or stereotype small businesses. The climate is tough and the margins are narrow. But there are plenty that manage to treat their staff equitably. Let’s make a stand against unscrupulous businesses that screw over their staff.

Recruiting: Volunteer Coordinator

Sufra NW London in partnership with Brent Care is recruiting a Volunteer Coordinator to support a new NHS pilot, which aims to reduce non-essential GP and A&E visits. Working as part of a team of 5 Care Navigators, the Volunteer Coordinator will recruit and supervise volunteers to support patients navigate various social care facilities to enable them to become independent and less reliant on front-line NHS services.

A full job-description and application form can be found here. There is no deadline for applications, as we are interviewing on a rolling basis. We recommend early application to avoid disappointment.

Supermarket Collections

If you want to sign up for your first good deed of the week, put your name down to volunteer at one of our upcoming supermarket collections.

This weekend we’re at Asda Wembley Park (5/6 November), and a fortnight later, at Waitrose Brent Cross (19/20 November). We just need you for a couple of hours.

To sign up for Asda Wembley Park, click here.
To sign up for Waitrose Brent Cross, click here.

Help us stock up for the Christmas rush.

Emergency Welfare Fund

Next week, the government introduces the reduced benefit cap, which will leave an estimated 498 food bank users living on just £35/week. You can find out more, in my last newsletter here.

To cope with the chaos, which will soon unravel, Sufra NW London has launched a £5,000 emergency welfare fund to provide short-term financial support to families in crisis for gas/electricity, travel and other household costs.

To make your donation, click here.

Sami’s Chicken Club

The race is on to gather enough votes to help Sami, our 16-year old Assistant Gardener, win an Aviva Community Award of £1,000 to build an aviary and chicken coop on St. Raphael’s Edible Garden. Please support him and vote here.

SAVE THE DATE: Pop-Up Restaurant

Our next pop-up restaurant will be on Saturday 17 December, prepared entirely by graduates of our flag-ship programme, Food Academy Plus. Save the date for this very special Christmas dining experience. 

Christmas Dinner @ Sufra NW London

No one should be lonely on Christmas Day.

Sufra NW London will be open on Christmas Day for a very special dinner for those who are living alone or cannot afford a traditional dinner. There will also be a minibus collection for those who are reliant on public transport.

The cost of the Christmas Dinner is £360 – so if you know a company or a generous individual who would like to sponsor the dinner, please get in touch.

News and Appeal from Barham Community Library