The publisher of the Daily Mirror is facing strike action from journalists at five of its titles including the Liverpool Echo and Birmingham Post over plans to introduce individual traffic target.
Trinity Mirror is facing a potential revolt across its 84 current regional titles over the publisher’s controversial plan to introduce “individual digital audience goals”.
The publisher announced in June that it wanted to roll out a controversial scheme across all of its titles in the UK whereby all journalists will be “expected to grow their audiences”.
Those who fail to achieve the prescribed level of growth could be put in a “performance improvement plan” and, in very exceptional circumstances, would face disciplinary action.
Five National Union of Journalists chapels have voted to take strike action over the plans – those at the Daily Post in Wales, Liverpool Echo, Coventry Telegraph, Birmingham Post and Newcastle Chronicle.
The controversial plan is being trialled at the Manchester Evening News, with the intention of rolling it across the group in January, with the newspaper’s chapel expected to report its ballot on strike action next week.
“It is unprecedented for six chapels to be balloting over the same issue at the same time at Trinity Mirror,” said Chris Morley, co-ordinating officer for the National Union of Journalists at Trinity Mirror. “With five of the results in, the discontent over individual goals or targets is clear to see and has been translated into strong votes for potential industrial action. This is a wakeup call to the company to listen to our members’ legitimate concerns and work with us in a constructive way to achieve the company’s goal of a bigger digital audience.”
A Trinity Mirror spokesperson said: “Trinity Mirror’s regional titles have led the industry in digital audience growth in the past 18 months, but it is essential that we continue to grow those audiences strongly, to build a sustainable business. The only way we can do this is by publishing content that our audience want to read, when they want to read it and how they want to read it. This means everyone needs to be focused on audience goals and using the analytics we have at our disposal even better, to make sure every piece of content and every journalist is playing their full part.
“We have worked hard to engage our staff throughout this process and have had positive feedback from the majority. We have also had extensive discussions with the NUJ, providing them with assurances on their concerns. It is therefore frustrating that they see this as the only course of action, when we believe our plans are in fact securing a future for regional media.”
Trinity Mirror will absorb another 73 titles following the completion of its £220m deal to buy rival Local World.
