Newsday’s parent company to be restructured

DAILY News Limited, publishers of the Newsday newspaper, has announced major restructuring plans aimed at cutting costs in light of dwindling numbers in advertising and subscriptions.

Among the measures to be taken by the company are outsourcing its printing, and retrenching staff across the company.
The company’s managing director Grant Taylor said on Monday that Daily News Ltd was the last of the local print media houses to undergo a significant restructuring exercise, which has become a necessity for the newspaper’s survival.

“Our printing cost per page has gone up by 200 per cent. That is simply not sustainable,” he said.
Taylor said the company had tried not to go the route of major restructuring of operations, but it was a matter of survival.
“It is not only us but the media industry that has taken a significant hit in recent years,” he explained.

While admitting that covid19 has accelerated the restructuring, he said it was not a knee-jerk reaction to the pandemic.
“It is a difficult time worldwide,” he said. “We are fortunate that the board of directors held off on a significant restructuring exercise earlier.”
He assured that the exercise is being done with the input of the union representing the staff.
To staff, he had this message: “This is the hardest thing any company has to do – lay off staff – and at the worst possible time. But at the end of the day there is no point in everyone being out of a job for the sake of not doing anything.

“It is not only difficult for the company but each individual manager, and the company is cognisant that it is incredibly difficult for the staff themselves...The anxiety and anguish. The company is very mindful of what everyone is going through.”

But, he said, “it is the reality, not only locally but worldwide.”
He pointed out that of the three daily newspapers, Newsday is the only independent entity not backed by a conglomerate.