Staff at the Cambridge Evening News (CEN) have passed a vote of no confidence in the management following the sudden departure on Friday of editor Murray Morse. A statement issued after a meeting attended by 70 "dismayed and disappointed" journalists said: "We wish to go on record as saying that Murray was regarded by us as an excellent editor, as well as a popular and supportive colleague."
The staff indicated that he departed because a group editor was about to appointed above Morse, who is credited with having rescued the paper from a difficult period. There has also been some criticism of his penchant for hard news stories and there is a suggestion that he was ticked off by the managing director for putting too many "unhappy" news stories on the front page.
CEN journalists have also complained about staff shortages: there are about 40 staff. This is well below the numbers in the past. But all regional evenings have cut staff. Indeed, all regional evenings are produced mainly for morning consumption now, and the CEN is no different. Its last audited ABC sale, the average for the final six months last year, was a less-than-sparkling 25,720.
The paper is owned by Iliffe News and Media, which also runs two other dailies - the Burton Mail and the Nuneaton-based Heartland Evening News - both of which have smaller circulations than the CEN. (Sources: holdthefrontpage /private emails)
