Reach plc (formerly Trinity Mirror) dominates Devon news coverage. It has been the UK’s largest regional news publisher since October 2015. Since then it has consolidated hundreds of local titles into generic regional publishing platforms across the country.
The company is in trouble: it has been the least agile among its peers in response to the rise of Silicon Valley.
Losses/writedowns were £108 million in 2018 and £200 million in 2019. It sacked 12% of its workforce in 2020 but the company’s shareholders received a £14 million dividend and its CEO and CFO both received 700% pay increases. Their combined 2020-21 remuneration was £7.4 million.
In 2022 its shares lost a quarter of their value after costs soared and operating profits fell. By the end of the year it was employing 2,500 fewer journalists than fifteen years before, a 63% reduction.
Its shares lost another fifth of their value last year following another profit warning. It announced another 450 job cuts as its reliance on large language model software to rewrite multiple versions of press releases and agency copy for reuse across multiple titles increased.
In March it announced plans to redeploy 300 journalists to a centralised team that produces traffic-driving national trending topic content for use across its regional websites.
“I do worry about how newspapers respond to falling circulation figures. I’m not sure that the answer is for newspapers to try to cater to whatever seems to be the fad of the day.”
Devon Live combines seven local titles, including Exeter Express & Echo and Western Morning News. Only 10% of its readers reside in the south west, let alone Exeter, the population of which constitutes just 6% of the region.
ABC figures show Exeter Express & Echo’s circulation has fallen by 72% in the past six years, from 11,700 copies in 2017 to 3,300 in 2023 - including its East Devon edition.
Its weekly cover price has reached £2.80 so it now costs more than £12 per month to read in print.
Both titles demonstrate increasing levels of editorial irresponsibility, with consequent impact on trust.
The pre-pandemic closure of the company’s Exeter office means it has since covered the city from Plymouth, following content policies determined by the priorities of a remote conglomerate. The decision to axe Exeter Express & Echo, when it comes, won’t be taken locally either.
Meanwhile Reach plc’s CEO and CFO remain among the ten best-paid executives in UK news.