'Atex' system is undermining Johnston Press accuracy and editorial independence, says NUJ

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Johnston Press' new ' Atex ' content management system is undermining the editorial independence of editors and putting accuracy at risk, the National Union of Journalists has claimed.

The NUJ wrote to the Press Complaints Commission following a Johnston Press management memo to journalists in South Yorkshire , which the union said showed the new Atex rules "removed a number of checks for accuracy and seriously undermined the role of the editor, removing their final responsibility for the content of the paper".

In turn, the PCC has written to Johnston Press asking it to respond to the NUJ's complaint, stating that if any complaint over accuracy is upheld the PCC would look into whether there was any "systemic problem", the NUJ says .

The PCC confirmed that it has been in touch with Johnston Press "to obtain clarification and reassurance about the relevant issues", but said that this is not a formal PCC investigation.

Journalists have been raising concerns over Atex for some time. It is alleged that it has been causing embarrassment for JP journalists, resulting in misaligned pictures, or even missing pictures. They have difficulties with formatting the content properly. Earlier this month , the Bedfordshire title the Times & Citizen published its front page with the headline "Headline headghgh", but we were unable to confirm if this was due to problems with Atex.

At the end of May, the NUJ said it would re-open a ballot for strike action at the company , questioning the "under-resourcing of newsrooms, the health and safety concerns over Atex, and the pay freeze and the damage to the standards of local newspapers." Final balloting decisions, including the timescale, will be discussed at the Johnston Press group chapel meeting this weekend, the NUJ said today.

The latest Atex memo makes "a mockery of Johnston Press' stated commitment to editorial independence and puts editors and senior journalists in an intolerable position," said NUJ General Secretary, Jeremy Dear.

"It is yet another sign that Atex is purely about commercial imperatives not about improving journalism".

Journalism.co.uk has approached Johnston Press for comment and will update when we receive a response.