Daily Mirror and Express Publisher to Cut Over 300 Jobs in Major Restructuring
Reach Plc, the publisher behind the Daily Mirror, Daily Express, and several leading regional newspapers, has announced plans to cut 321 jobs as part of its largest-ever restructuring aimed at boosting digital growth and video content production.
The move comes as the company looks to adapt to shifting media consumption habits, including the growing role of artificial intelligence (AI) and a new strategy to share content across multiple titles. At the same time, Reach will create 135 new roles, many focused on digital subscriptions and video storytelling.
David Higgerson, Reach’s chief content officer, said the overhaul was necessary to “match our resources to our ambition” amid rapid changes in how audiences consume news.
“The changes we are seeing in the landscape right now demand a wholesale change in how we operate and how we tell stories,” Higgerson said. “For our editorial teams, this means adopting a different way of working from top to bottom.”
AI Concerns and Union Pushback
The announcement has sparked concern among journalists, with the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) warning that newsroom morale is being “dragged down” by repeated waves of redundancies in recent years.
The NUJ has called for greater transparency on how AI will be used within the company, fearing it could replace human roles rather than support them.
Chris Morley, Reach’s national coordinator for the NUJ, criticized the company’s approach, saying:
“We hear a lot about being ‘authoritative and authentic,’ but where redundant journalists once were, there now seems to be only the chatter of AI.”
Shift Toward a ‘Live News Network’
As part of its strategy, Reach plans to launch a “live news network”, enabling a single journalist to create breaking news content that can be published simultaneously across multiple titles, from national newspapers to regional outlets like the Manchester Evening News, Birmingham Mail, and Liverpool Echo.
The company will also focus more heavily on digital subscriptions, following moves by competitors such as The Sun and Daily Mail, which have begun experimenting with paywalled content.
Financial Context
The restructuring follows a round of cuts announced in July, which placed more than 100 jobs at risk. Despite these measures, Reach reported £27 million in pre-tax profit for the first half of the year.
The publisher said its proprietary AI tools have already driven a 10% increase in page views by recommending content to keep readers engaged longer.
While Reach aims to position itself for future growth in a digital-first news environment, the latest round of job losses underscores the mounting pressure on traditional media organizations to balance innovation with the protection of journalistic integrity and employment.
