Striking editor reveals Johnston Press editorial pay

Jim Oldfield, the editor of the South Yorkshire Times who is supporting an indefinite NUJ strike starting today at Johnston Press-owned South Yorkshire Newspapers over redundancies, has revealed his salary and those of other members of the editorial staff.

Speaking at an NUJ meeting in London last night, Oldfield said his annual pay after 37 years in journalism, which has included working for the national press, is £25,500.

Oldfield said trainee journalists at South Yorkshire Newspapers were on £14,000; page designers £15,000; senior reporters £18,000; and assistant editors £24,000.

"How can we continue to attract and keep the people we need to get the news stories that keep this country free?," he said. "It's a scandal."

In contrast, he said the union had discovered that the company's former md at South Yorkshire Newspapers was on £91,000.

Oldfield estimated that Johnston Press have cut more than 230 journalists' jobs in the last year. "They've nothing left to asset strip and are now picking at the bones to make a thin stew."

He claimed that he and other NUJ members at South Yorkshire Newspapers had been targeted for redundancy because they were in the union.

Oldfield also revealed that he had got a story about the strike into this week's issue of the South Yorkshire Times but only after a five-and-a-half hour stand-off with Johnston Press management as the paper was due to go to print.

• More South Yorkshire Newspapers pay figures here and how they compare to other workers.
• Francois Nel at UCLAN in Preston has started a survey of journalists' pay after reading this post.
  

Pic: Jon Slattery