Reach PLC to cut 600 roles in biggest shake-up as AI upends reader traffic

Mirror publisher plans sweeping overhaul as platforms and AI squeeze traffic

The publisher behind the Daily Mirror, Daily Express and Daily Star is preparing its most dramatic overhaul yet, with about 600 jobs placed at risk and a sharp pivot toward live coverage and video. Reach says the plan is a response to shifting reader habits and the bite of artificial intelligence on search and social traffic. Investors nudged the stock up roughly 1% in early trading even as the scale of the cuts sank in across newsrooms.

Inside the numbers: 321 editorial roles are in scope, with the total near 600 once commercial and production changes are counted. The company plans to build 135 new roles focused on fast-turn news, live blogs and video, which brings the net reduction to 186 positions. Management describes the shift as the largest reorganisation in the company’s history.

Senior editor David Higgerson framed the move as unavoidable, saying audience behaviour has moved again and quickly. In practice, that means more real-time reporting, more on-camera journalism, and a leaner production chain. National titles will share more material, page designs will be more standardised, and mid-level newsroom leaders will work more closely with design and subbing teams across multiple brands. Reach says staff at risk will get first shot at the new roles.

The National Union of Journalists was blunt. It called the cuts a heavy blow and questioned the logic of spending months rebuilding teams only to dissolve them again. Repeated redundancy rounds have dented morale in many Reach newsrooms. The union wants redeployment wherever possible, meaningful consultation, and a plan that does not hollow out reporting in the places where audiences still rely on local coverage.

This is not the first contraction. At the end of 2023, Reach cut around 450 roles—about a tenth of its workforce—after a bruising year for advertising. There were earlier reductions during the pandemic as print revenues slid and digital rates failed to fully plug the gap. The company now employs more than 3,500 people, around 2,300 of them in editorial, making it one of the UK’s largest news employers.

Markets took the announcement as a sign of cost discipline under new leadership. Shares climbed 0.7p to 70.5p after the news. The strategy will be overseen by Piers North, promoted from chief revenue officer to chief executive after Jim Mullen left in March to head the Jockey Club. North inherits a business that must keep print profitable while finding growth in digital formats that do not depend on volatile platform traffic.

What changes on the ground? Expect centralised templates that speed up daily production, more shared national content on overlapping stories, and fewer bespoke layouts that slow the pipeline. The new roles are likely to include live reporters for 24/7 desks, short-form video producers, on-camera correspondents, and editors who can package stories for mobile and social in minutes rather than hours. Skills in verification, rights clearance, and quick-turn editing will carry a premium.

Who feels the strain? Production posts and some mid-tier editorial jobs are in the firing line as workflows collapse into shared hubs. Local and regional teams may see more content flowing down from national desks, and fewer staff dedicated to slower-turn features. Reach says the goal is to keep original reporting while cutting duplication, but the balance between central scale and local depth will be hard to maintain.

Why now? The digital map has shifted under every UK publisher. Traffic from big platforms is less reliable: social networks have dialed back news, search results are reshaped by AI-generated answers, and algorithm changes can knock a site down without warning. Even when audiences are large, ad yields can be weak on mobile, and privacy changes make targeting harder. The old model—publish fast, scale on Facebook, monetise with cheap programmatic ads—does not work like it used to.

AI’s role is direct and indirect. AI answers in search can reduce click-through to original reporting. AI-assisted content farms increase competition for attention and ad slots. And newsrooms themselves are now expected to use AI tools for transcripts, research checks, and routine production. Reach argues that reorganising around live reporting and video gives it a better shot at relevance on feeds and in search, and creates formats that advertisers still value.

There is risk in this bet. The last “pivot to video” a decade ago burned many publishers when platform policies changed and promised audiences didn’t translate into revenue. This time, the mix is different: short, vertical clips; on-site players; and live coverage designed to sit on homepages, apps and push alerts rather than relying only on third-party feeds. The prize is higher video ad rates and better time-on-page. The danger is overload—lots of video without the journalism that sets a newsroom apart.

For staff, the practical questions start now. Who can retrain into video without losing seniority? Will remote or regional editors be asked to move? How will night and weekend shifts be covered without burning out smaller teams? Those details tend to define whether a restructure improves output or sends talent out the door. The company says it will prioritise internal candidates for the new roles, but redeployment depends on training and a fair grading of skills.

For readers, the output may feel faster and more visual. Expect more live blogs on major stories, short explainers, and quick updates that travel well on mobile. You may also notice more shared national pieces across the Mirror, Express and Star when the subject is broad—royals, big court cases, TV events, major weather—while local investigations and longer reads may appear less often unless they have clear audience pull.

The financial backdrop is tough. Print sales are steady in some pockets but continue to trend down over time. Digital growth has slowed as platforms shift priorities, and the ad market is choppy. Many publishers are hedging with reader registration, first-party data, and direct ad deals. Subscriptions are harder for mass-market tabloids, so scale and high-impact formats like video become the fallback.

Reach has been trying versions of this shift for years: consolidating titles onto shared tech, building a single ad stack, and pushing national content where it fits across brands. The difference now is speed and scope. Calling this the biggest reorganisation is a signal to investors that leadership will move fast. It is also a warning to staff that even long-held roles are not protected if they sit outside the new workflows.

The union will push for voluntary exits first, retraining budgets, and guarantees around the health of local newsrooms. Consultation periods usually run for weeks, with final numbers sometimes varying based on take-up of new roles and voluntary redundancy. Mental health support, fair severance, and transparent selection criteria will be key issues raised in meetings with management.

All of this lands as competition intensifies. Broadcasters lean into live streams and clips. New entrants build audience on TikTok and YouTube without the cost base of a national newsroom. Niche publishers hold paying subscribers with specialist coverage. For a legacy group, the way through is to use scale without losing identity—fast when speed matters, distinctive when it counts.

For now, the message from the top is clear: fewer roles overall, more video and live news, simpler production, and tighter coordination across titles. The share price bounce shows investors like the sound of it. The hard part will be making sure readers and advertisers do too, while keeping the reporting muscle that made Reach PLC a force in the first place.

What to watch over the coming months

- How many at-risk staff move into the 135 new roles, and how the selection process is run.

- Whether centralisation starts to affect the depth of local and regional reporting.

- The mix of on-site video versus third-party platforms, and whether new formats lift revenue per visit.

- Signs of stabilised traffic as search and social algorithms continue to change under the pressure of AI.

- Staff morale and retention as new shift patterns and workflows bed in under CEO Piers North.