Dozens of jobs at risk at Reach in overhaul of sports coverage

Reach is expected to cut around 50 jobs as part of an overhaul focused on its sports coverage.

The company, which publishes the Daily Mirror, Daily Express, Western Mail and a host of regional titles, said the plans are designed to “reduce duplication”.

The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) said the news publisher has placed 104 roles at risk, with around half of these set for redundancies.

Roles across national and local publications, print and digital, content and production are set to be affected.

Welsh sports

The union said dedicated correspondents covering Liverpool, Manchester United, and London football clubs will be halved, while three writers covering Midland clubs and two on Welsh sport are at risk.

Reach, which publishes the Manchester Evening News and Liverpool Echo, is also expected to cut its number of content editors from 26 to 16 and heavily reduce sports sub editor roles.

David Higgerson, chief digital publisher at Reach, said: “We are changing the structure of our sports teams to reduce duplication and work more efficiently, while ensuring dedicated resources to deliver exclusive content, rooted in the communities we serve.

“For example, we will continue to have dedicated writers covering our most popular football clubs, as well as for a range of specialist sports including tennis, golf, and F1, delivering content across our portfolio.”

The company is also expected to cut arts desk staff.

Workers in Scotland and Ireland will not be impacted, the NUJ said.

Morale

Laura Davison, NUJ general secretary, said: “The NUJ is deeply concerned by the impact these cuts will have on staff workload and morale.

“Either fewer staff will be expected to do more work, or Reach is seeking to use AI to fill the resulting gap.

“The replication of content across Reach’s titles will mean less localised coverage and less media diversity.

“Ultimately, this results in a poorer product.”