Argus expected to make further editorial job cuts

The Brighton Argus is expected to inform staff this afternoon that around half a dozen editorial jobs are at risk, as well as 11 members of the newspaper's sales team.

Several newsroom staff have received letters inviting them to attend a meeting with management this afternoon, understood to concern possible redundancies. Four staff from the newspaper's features team, one from the photography department and the title's librarian are understood to be affected.

Around 11 of 16 staff who work on the newspaper's home delivery team, which manages newspaper deliveries and complaints, are also understood to be at risk.

According to a report by Brighton and Hove News, the work of the delivery team will be transferred to a centralised Newsquest hub in Southampton.

NUJ members at the title are due to meet this afternoon following the planned meetings with staff.

A spokesperson for the union said today: "The NUJ chapel hasn't meant yet but at the moment we feel that further job losses at the Argus, on the back of last year's decision to move the subs to Southampton further damages the identity of the paper."

Newsquest, which publishes the Argus, made six of the newspaper's sub-editors redundant in November last year when it moved sub-editing operations to the centralised hub in Southampton, despite industrial action by staff in protest over the planned move.

The union later balloted members in March after Newsquest announced plans for four job cuts at the Southampton hub as part of a restructure at the Bournemouth Daily Echo, where the hub is based.

Newsquest was heavily criticised by the NUJ last month for cutting staff at its Midlands South division despite a "massive surge in profits".

No one from Newsquest was available for comment at the time of writing.

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