RIP Celtic Newspapers

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Grayo

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Media Wales, (formally Western Mail & Echo) announced yesterday it is cutting editorial jobs by twenty people. Included in the twenty will be two staff photographers, one who has worked for the company for over 25 years and the other for over 30 years. The two photographer including myself, were part of a 7 man team of photographers for Celtic newspapers a subsidiary company of Media Wales. Over the last 5 years Celtic Newspapers, lost 4 of it's staff photographers through redundancy/retirement and 1 through retirement on ill health, it has now lost it's last 2 remaining photographers. The remaining one photographer has been shiffted to head office. Having closed 3 of it's district office newspapers already, it has now also been decided to cut it's editorial staff by another seven reporters, this we feel will be the end of Celtic Newspapers, the end of regional newspapers that covered the whole of South Wales.

RIP Celtic Newspapers :'(
 
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Deepest sympathy Graham, it looks as though Trinity is carrying out another rash of swingeing cuts. One of my friends used to be the Prod Ed for the group based in Brum and handed his notice in after the last heavy chop in 2006.

I'd guess that part of the problem was the territory war with the Evening Post and Northcliffe?
 
Sorry to hear that. I left the Birmingham Post in 2003, saw what was coming and decided to jump ship before everyone else.

Shame Trinity, Northcliffe etc always put profits before quality. Without knocking people I used to work with, the quality of the media could be so much better here in the Midlands.

What are your plans for the future?
 
DemiLion said:
Deepest sympathy Graham, it looks as though Trinity is carrying out another rash of swingeing cuts. One of my friends used to be the Prod Ed for the group based in Brum and handed his notice in after the last heavy chop in 2006.

I'd guess that part of the problem was the territory war with the Evening Post and Northcliffe?
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The only problem I found with territory wars was with the Evening Post and the Neath Port Talbot Guardian. The NPT Guardian, was a free paper for years until the company decided to make it a paid for, that was when the war began. The Evening Post decided to print a free paper called the Neath Port Talbot Courier, when placed together the NPT Guardian, and the NPT Courier, looked identical except for the name, even the reports on the front and inside were almost the same. The NPT Guardian, lasted 10 years before the company decided to close it due to poor sales, not long after the Evening Post stopped producing the NPT Courier. Nice one!!

Edtog said:
Sorry to hear that. I left the Birmingham Post in 2003, saw what was coming and decided to jump ship before everyone else.

Shame Trinity, Northcliffe etc always put profits before quality. Without knocking people I used to work with, the quality of the media could be so much better here in the Midlands.

What are your plans for the future?
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You don't know how right you are there, when we had office's (7 in total) full of reporters and each office had a photographer, we were producing good quality news papers with over 100,000 copies being sold every week. They started to reduce the amount of staff in each office and the circulation began to drop, the last I heard circulation was just above 40,000, all this within 6 years. What really hurts as well is when you hear our chief executive Sly Bailey, has picked up a 1.5 million bonus payment while others are losing their jobs.

My plans for the future are fine, I was the one who retired on ill health grounds, so I came out with a full pension. I don't know if health will allow me to find other employment but I'm fine at the moment.

Musicman said:
And they're stopping street sales of the Western Mail and South Wales Echo :(

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-13987072

From my years at university there, street vendors crying out 'Echo' was as much a part of Cardiff life as the Central Market.
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I can always remember as a kid walking through town the shout of "Echo" sadly they were scrapped a couple of years ago now. End of an era.

swanseamale47 said:
I worked for the Western mail for a few years shame to see it going.
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To be honest I don't think there will be a Western Mail and Echo for very much longer, the way things are going I believe with the next 5 to ten years it will all be over.
 
Nice to see Sly is still lining her pockets, all she has done since she started is cut jobs. Not much of a long term business plan....
 
Edtog said:
Nice to see Sly is still lining her pockets, all she has done since she started is cut jobs. Not much of a long term business plan....
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Your right again, thats all she has done since she started is cut jobs and when somebody sees sence and gets rid of her no dougt she will go with a massive hand shake and sod the rest.

Reminds me of the time she arrainged a senior managers meet in Birmingham a few years ago. She sent private cars for all the senior managers to get to the meet and had a private helicopter for herself. Makes you laugh doesn't it.

You must know my old Editor in Chief Peter Long, he did the same as you got out when the going was good.
 
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Grayo said:
The only problem I found with territory wars was with the Evening Post and the Neath Port Talbot Guardian. The NPT Guardian, was a free paper for years until the company decided to make it a paid for, that was when the war began. The Evening Post decided to print a free paper called the Neath Port Talbot Courier, when placed together the NPT Guardian, and the NPT Courier, looked identical except for the name, even the reports on the front and inside were almost the same. The NPT Guardian, lasted 10 years before the company decided to close it due to poor sales, not long after the Evening Post stopped producing the NPT Courier. Nice one!!



You don't know how right you are there, when we had office's (7 in total) full of reporters and each office had a photographer, we were producing good quality news papers with over 100,000 copies being sold every week. They started to reduce the amount of staff in each office and the circulation began to drop, the last I heard circulation was just above 40,000, all this within 6 years. What really hurts as well is when you hear our chief executive Sly Bailey, has picked up a 1.5 million bonus payment while others are losing their jobs.

My plans for the future are fine, I was the one who retired on ill health grounds, so I came out with a full pension. I don't know if health will allow me to find other employment but I'm fine at the moment.



I can always remember as a kid walking through town the shout of "Echo" sadly they were scrapped a couple of years ago now. End of an era.



To be honest I don't think there will be a Western Mail and Echo for very much longer, the way things are going I believe with the next 5 to ten years it will all be over.
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I suspect your right sadly.
 
What a bloody cheek

Last week Media Wales announced 20 staff were being made redundant. Out of the 20, 7 were reporters and 2 were the last remaining photographers working for Celtic Newspapers covering community news papers throughout South Wales. This week they publish an article saying "How community newspapers make a difference" (see below)

How the hell can they get rid of people one week and say how great community papers are the next. Have they got no feelings for the people who are now unemployed. :shrug:


Media Wales001 by Grayo1, on Flickr
 
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