Tuesday, September 22, 2015
Undermining local media
I raised with Welsh Ministers this afternoon my concerns about the takeover of the Local World media company by Trinity Mirror. I am not expecting much press coverage for this initiative for obvious reasons so I thought I would highlight it here as well as on my main website.
Local World is the parent company of the South Wales Evening Post, the biggest selling Welsh daily. I understand that takeover talks are at an advanced stage, and that if they proceed then Trinity Mirror will control three of the four dailies in South Wales, the Daily Post in North Wales and a large number of weeklies including the Llanelli Star and the Carmarthen Journal.
I am worried that this takeover will lead to a loss of jobs in the Swansea area, a centralisation of operations in Cardiff and a greater emphasis on click-bait journalism in place of good, community-based news reporting. I have asked the Welsh Government to seek assurances from Trinity Mirror on these issues.
Trinity Mirror has centralised all its operations in Cardiff, closing branch offices in Merthyr Tydfil, Bridgend and Pontypridd in the last year. In the process they have forced staff to work from home or in their Cardiff headquarters.
We need assurances from Trinity Mirror that if this takeover goes ahead, then they will keep offices in Swansea, Llanelli and Carmarthen open, maintaining the important link between locally-based papers and the communities they serve.
I am also concerned at possible redundancies as a result of this takeover. That is why I have asked the Minister to engage with Trinity Mirror to press them on this issue and to try to minimise job losses
Local World is the parent company of the South Wales Evening Post, the biggest selling Welsh daily. I understand that takeover talks are at an advanced stage, and that if they proceed then Trinity Mirror will control three of the four dailies in South Wales, the Daily Post in North Wales and a large number of weeklies including the Llanelli Star and the Carmarthen Journal.
I am worried that this takeover will lead to a loss of jobs in the Swansea area, a centralisation of operations in Cardiff and a greater emphasis on click-bait journalism in place of good, community-based news reporting. I have asked the Welsh Government to seek assurances from Trinity Mirror on these issues.
Trinity Mirror has centralised all its operations in Cardiff, closing branch offices in Merthyr Tydfil, Bridgend and Pontypridd in the last year. In the process they have forced staff to work from home or in their Cardiff headquarters.
We need assurances from Trinity Mirror that if this takeover goes ahead, then they will keep offices in Swansea, Llanelli and Carmarthen open, maintaining the important link between locally-based papers and the communities they serve.
I am also concerned at possible redundancies as a result of this takeover. That is why I have asked the Minister to engage with Trinity Mirror to press them on this issue and to try to minimise job losses
