Mecom to cut up to 350 jobs in 'digital first' drive

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European newspaper publisher

Mecom

is looking to make between 300 and 350 redundancies at its Dutch regional news division, Wegener, as part of a bigger move towards paid-for "digital first" news delivery.

The strategy, due to be implemented before the end of the year, will see the Netherlands' biggest regional newspaper group "focus on digital, without sacrificing our commitment to our core print titles", Mecom said in a release today.

Paid-for iPad, Android and HTML5 applications will be developed for all of the publisher's daily titles from next month, and the group's websites will make "exploratory approaches" towards paywalled content.

The focus on digital is part of a €50m cost-cutting initiative and follows an extensive review of the business by management. Mecom said its "commitment to print" continued, despite anticipating a further decline in print advertising revenue at the group this year.

Mecom chief executive Tom Toumazis said in a statement: "Today's announcement is entirely aligned with our goal of providing greater commercial focus across our organisation through a commitment to paid platforms.

"We should stand for being a progressive, flexible and fast moving media company capable of adapting to the changes in audience behaviour, market developments, technology and competition. Our business in the Netherlands is a fundamental part of that."

The group's chief executive for the Netherlands, Truls Velgaard, added: "We are accelerating our digital strategy across the entire company to meet the challenges and capture the opportunities created by unprecedented industry change.

"Our deep relationship with our readers and advertisers and the skill, determination and energy of our people, give us an unrivalled advantage in this rapidly evolving environment.

"We shall focus on digital, without sacrificing our commitment to our core print titles. This will, however, mean a fundamental change in the way we work, with more cross-company and country initiatives, sharing best practices and modern editorial and sales workflows.

“Wegener has been a benchmark for quality in Dutch journalism for more than 100 years. I am convinced that if we deliver this strategy successfully to our readers and advertisers, our best years lie ahead."