Greeny News

A Johnston Press executive has admitted what some of us have known, and said, for years. Its cutbacks have been too close to the bone and the company expanded unwisely.

Or, to quote the exact words of Michael Johnston, managing director of JP's Scottish division: "We possibly did not invest enough in journalism" and "my own group made a number of ill-advised acquisitions."

Johnston (left), son of JP's excellent former chief, Freddy , said this when giving evidence in January to the Scottish parliament's education, lifelong learning and culture committee. Its report has just been published.

On the matter of poor acquisitions, Johnston said it had had "a huge impact on the business." Then he took up some of the criticisms aimed at the company.

Were executives overpaid? I do not have a view on that; I certainly was not one of them. Were dividends too high? The dividends were what was deemed to be appropriate at the time. The company has shareholders who had every opportunity there.

(That final sentence is somewhat garbled, but I think we get his drift). Johnston was aware that the committee was hearing about the substantial difference in the salaries (and perks) of senior management and journalists.

Unsurprisingly, given the weight of evidence on that topic, the major recommendation by the committee was that the local newspaper industry should pay journalists more and stop rewarding senior management with bumper pay packages.

Here are some key passages from the report:

The committee notes the levels of profits still being made by newspaper companies... [and] also notes the contrast between the remuneration packages of senior management in the industry and the salaries being offered to journalists entering the profession in local newspapers...

The committee believes that the long term health and sustainability of the local newspaper industry rests largely on it being able to recruit and retain well trained professional journalists who have the skills and expertise to investigate issues of local concern, scrutinise local government and other institutions and report local news...

The committee believes, therefore, that it is essential that the management of newspaper companies take steps to make sustained investment in journalism.

Such investment must ensure that journalists are supported, developed and fairly remunerated in order to play their vital role in the production of vibrant titles...

s Committee of 'organizer, Karen Whitefield, is quoted on allmediaScotland as saying: "Local newspapers are a vital training ground for journalists and have an important role to play in representing communities' views on a number of issues.

"While it is up to the industry to manage its own future, we are calling on the Scottish government to monitor the situation in the current challenging environment."

The report also welcomes the decision of the Scottish Government to abandon plans to publish the public notice boards only on the Internet that would lead to a loss in advertising for newspapers.

It said: "Although the committee acknowledges that the public sector faces difficult budgetary decisions and cost pressures, the appropriate balance needs to be struck between the need to make efficiency savings and the need to ensure that citizens are properly informed about proposals that may affect their lives or their community."

Sources:AllMediaScotland /Scottish Parliament report Hat tips: holdthefrontpage/Press Gazette