Hardly a day passes without some kind of dramatic development at Johnston Press. The latest example is typical. Rob Lawson, editor of the Sunderland Echo for 10 years and widely respected, is to leave the company.
He goes after the announcement that Johnston's Sunderland print plant is to close, with the loss of 81 jobs. Printing will move to Dinnington, near Sheffield (that's 125 miles by road, a driving time of 2 hours 16 minutes according to AA route finder)
Needless to say, it means that the Echo's editorial staff, along with the editors at Johnston titles in the north east region (such as the Hartlepool Mail), have been told deadlines must be brought forward.
Sunderland becomes the third Johnston print plant to be closed this year following the closures at Leeds and and Peterborough.
It means the company will have just two remaining print plants in England – the one at Sheffield and one in Portsmouth. Those presses are certainly going to be worked hard, given that Johnston Press publishes a total of 227 titles, including 14 dailies (though not all are in England, of course).
Source: HoldTheFrontPage
