HR Issues

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has welcomed recommendations released by the French government in its Green Paper on press reforms in France. The Green Paper, published on January 8, contains 90 recommendations to reform the current functioning of the press in France. An important proposal concerns existing authors' rights to remuneration for multiple-use of a journalistic work...

Sun-Times Media Group Inc plans to close 12 weekly newspapers in suburban Chicago and has asked its union employees to take a cut in compensation as part of cost-cutting measures brought on by declining advertising revenue, the Associated Press (AP) has eported. The company, which publishes the Chicago-Sun Times, also wants to lay off up to 15 employees in suburban newsrooms, a union official told...

Hearst Corp, one of the largest US publishers, is seeking a buyer for its Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspaper within 60 days after losing $14 million last year amid dwindling circulation and advertising revenue, according to news reports. The privately held magazine and newspaper publishing company will seek a buyer for the 145-year-old daily newspaper, as well as its interest in a joint...

The biggest news industry story of 2008 in the US, expectedly, is about job cuts, says leading industry magzine Editor & Publisher. The US Department of Labour estimates that around 21,000 newspaper industry jobs disappeared this year. E&P's 'Top Ten Newspaper Industry Stories of the Year', listed by Senior Editor Joe Strupp are as follows: [ Link] Record Job Cuts: Three years ago, this was the...

Former Herald Sun editor-in-chief Bruce Guthrie has launched a $2.8million unfair dismissal claim against the Australian newspaper's publisher, News Limited. In a writ filed on Monday in the Victorian Supreme Court, Guthrie claimed that the company's decision to terminate his employment last month was "capricious, unfair and unreasonable" and a breach of contract, the Australian reported. Guthrie...

The Tribune Co, owner of the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune and other US dailies, has filed for bankruptcy. The Chicago-based company said it was forced to seek bankruptcy protection Monday because of a sharp drop in revenue and a 13-billion-dollar debt load but has enough cash to sustain operations while it restructures, news reports said. The Tribune's eight newspapers, 23 television...

The Newsquest-owned Herald and Times group in Scotland has made all its 250 journalists and publishing staff redundant and asked them to re-apply for their jobs. The Glasgow-based company, which publishes the Herald, Sunday Herald and Evening Times announced this on December 3, according to the Scotsman newspaper. About 30-40 staff, 17 per cent of journalists, are expected to be cut as the company...

The Sakaal Times employees in Delhi have reached an agreement with the management on a compensation package which is agreeable to both sides. KK Laskar, convenor of the employees' action committee that has been formed to fight for the rights of employees, said that the issue of compensation had been amicably resolved to the "complete satisfaction" of the employees. Sixtyone employees were laid off...

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has blamed callous management at Channel-5, a private TV station in Pakistan, which contributed to the death of a cameraman who killed himself after his employer refused to pay his salary. According to the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalist (PFUJ), an IFJ affiliate, Mohammad Azam Khan, 26, who worked as a cameraman for Channel-5 in Lahore had not...

The Delhi operations of the Sakaal Times of the Pune-based Sakaal Media Group have been closed down without informing employees in advance. On November 30, the newspaper's journalists were taken aback to find the office locked and a lockout notice pasted on the doors. The anger of the 70-odd employees is not so much about the shutdown but that the Sakaal management did not inform them personally...