A SCOTTISH publisher is considering closing four magazines with 35 jobs at risk of redundancy only weeks after announcing tens of millions in pre-tax profits.
DC Thomson is proposing to close the four titles alongside cutting jobs across its audience and insight, data journalism, magazines, Beano Studios, and brand and marketing departments, the Press Gazette first reported.
The four magazines which are reportedly facing closure are the culture title This England, the bi-monthly series My Weekly Pocket Novels, and the two children’s titles 110% Gaming and Unicorn Universe.
The Dundee-based publisher, famed for its news titles like The Courier and The Press and Journal along with the Beano, reportedly said the four magazines are “not commercially sustainable in the longer term”.
On January 6, DC Thomson reported a pre-tax profit of £93.8m for the year ending March 31, 2024.
At the time, DC Thomson’s chairman Christopher Thomson said the firm would continue to “invest in technology and talent”.
A spokesperson for DC Thomson told the Press Gazette that following the end of publishing the four titles a “small number” of employees are now in “consultation” with the firm about their future.
They said: “Following a strategic review, we are ceasing publishing four print titles – This England, 110% Gaming, Unicorn Universe, and My Weekly Pocket Novels – which are not commercially sustainable in the longer term.
“Unfortunately, these changes will have an impact on the teams that support them and a small number of colleagues are now in consultation and will be fully supported throughout.”
Nick McGowan-Lowe, national organiser for Scotland at the National Union of Journalists, told Press Gazette that the announcement would only add to employees feeling that senior management does not appreciate the “value and experience of journalists”.
He added that staff were already “angry” over a 0% pay award from last year.
“It is unbelievable that only a few weeks after announcing £93.8m pre-tax profits, DC Thomson has now told 55 hard-working staff their jobs are at risk,” he said.
“Only last night I met with the NUJ chapel at DC Thomson and heard their anger after last year’s 0% pay award, and today’s announcement of a proposed 35 job cuts and four magazine closures will only add to the feeling that senior management don’t appreciate the value and experience of journalists across the business.”
