The National Union of Journalists is holding a meeting that asks a provocative question: Is this the end of local and regional journalism in the Midlands?
It has been prompted by the cutting of 50 editorial jobs by Trinity Mirror at its Birmingham division, job cuts in the Midlands by the BBC, cutbacks by ITV and in local commercial radio stations.
The public meeting, Crisis in Midlands Journalism, starts at 6.30pm on Thursday 8 December at the Committee Rooms, Birmingham Council House, Victoria Square.
Speakers will include the former BBC Midlands Today/Politics Show reporter Colin Pemberton; former editor of the Matlock Mercury, Don Hale; BBC Midlands Today correspondent Michele Paduano; Neil Elkes of the Birmingham Post & Mail; and NUJ general secretary Michelle Stanistreet.
"The destruction of the media in the Midlands – in newspapers, radio and TV – is a scandal and a tragedy," says Stanistreet.
"Excellent, hard-working journalists are being thrown on the scrap heap and the citizens of this region are losing a vital check on the activities of local politicians and businesses."
Source: NUJ
