Black Christmas for Bristol journalists

Journalists on Bristol's Western Daily Press have withdrawn their eBay publicity stunt as they wait to hear how many staff will lose their jobs in the New Year.

The editorial team put its services up for auction last week and bidding reached £660 before the listing was cancelled.

The team listed itself as 'an entire multi-award-winning regional newspaper staff' and stated that the winner of the auction would have 'the right to employ every redundant member of staff to produce the newspaper' of their choice.

The auction was part of a campaign to draw attention to expected redundancies at two Northcliffe titles in Bristol. The Northcliffe regional newspaper group is to be sold and, claims the National Union of Journalists, job cuts are designed to boost the company's share price before the sale.

Management are due to update staff today.

Journalists are holding a demonstration against the redundancies next Tuesday at 12.30 outside the Western Daily Press offices in Bristol.

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BBC cuts on-in-five jobs
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