A SCOTTISH news title is set to close after a major news publisher announced it was cutting more than 200 editorial jobs in a fresh wave of cost-cutting measures.
Reach plc, which has a number of titles in Scotland including the Daily Record, Sunday Mail and Scottish Daily Express, has announced that Aberdeen Live will be among three news titles set to be closed, according to the Press Gazette.
Last September, Reach announced that more than 320 journalism jobs were to be axed in what bosses at the news publishing firm said was its biggest-ever restructure.
Now, it has been reported that around 220 journalism jobs are set to be cut with around 60 new positions being created – a net loss of 160 roles within the company.
Three online newsbrands, Aberdeen Live, Galway Beo and Kent Live, are all set to be cut too, with Reach bosses citing the ongoing fallout from declining online search referral traffic and falling ad revenues.
Chief content officer David Higgerson reportedly confirmed the job losses in an email to staff where he said the company was in “the middle of a mammoth shift in how audiences want content and journalism”.
He wrote: “To ensure a sustainable future for our journalism, we must focus our investment in the areas where our audiences spend the most time and where our revenue reflects the value of our work.
“In our newsrooms, that means less emphasis on story volume and more on original journalism and distinctive brands. It also means that ‘active engaged time’ will become our north star metric, over and above page views, by the end of the year.
“Our page view decline has been driven primarily by a decline in Google referrers. Locally, we continue to be challenged by an expansionist BBC, whose local output mirrors what is already being created by publishers up to 70% of the time.
“These headwinds, and others which also affect the whole industry, mean that we need to make these changes while also reducing our overall costs.
“I, along with the editorial senior leadership team, have reduced a range of non-people budgets in order to protect as many jobs as possible, but the scale of the challenge facing our wider industry is such that we have to enter next year a smaller editorial organisation.”
Higgerson goes on to outline that the proposal will “remove” approximately 220 roles from Reach’s editorial structure, while at the same time creating more than 60 new editorial roles.
He goes on to explain that the roles being created are ones which are “needed to drive digital revenue growth, particularly in subscriptions and in longer-form video, and enhance brand reputation through well-read journalism which creates loyalty”.
Higgerson then confirmed that Aberdeen Live, which was launched in July 2021 as a standalone online brand to challenge the city’s two daily newspapers, the Press & Journal and the Evening Express, will close.
He cited the closure was due to the businesses “market position” in the city but added the decision was not a reflection of the work by journalists at the title.
Higgerson wrote: “We are also taking the difficult decisions to close three titles: KentLive, AberdeenLive and GalwayBeo.
“This is not a reflection of the work done on these titles, or the commitment of the journalists on them. The decision is based on our market position in these areas.
“In almost every market we operate in, locally, we are the dominant publisher, even after the page view declines we have seen this year.
“This is not the case in these three markets, which is why we are taking the decision to exit them, while focusing efforts on the markets where we make the greatest impact.”
In 2022, Reach had 4658 staff, of which 3369 were defined as production and editorial. At the end of 2025, the total number of staff had fallen to 3423, of which 2494 were production and editorial – a reduction of 1235 jobs.
Reach’s half-yearly results showed overall revenues were down by 9%, while digital revenues were down 11.4%, with page views also down 40% year-on-year.
Laura Davison, National Union of Journalists general secretary, said that "cuts after cuts, year after year, have left our members at Reach deeply demoralised".
"The cumulative effect of relentless redundancies has been unsustainable workloads, unrealistic 'content' demands, and dedicated journalists living in constant fear of losing their livelihoods," she said.
“Continued cuts fundamentally undermine Reach's recent strategic pivot to digital subscriptions and focus on original reporting, which had been broadly welcomed by our members.
"This is an act of self-sabotage. A sustainable business model relies on quality journalism. And quality journalism relies on having skilled journalists who can ask questions, uncover stories, verify facts, hold power to account, and reflect community voices.
"These cuts will have a direct impact on public access to news, with the closure of three online titles exacerbating the UK and Ireland's local news drought and doing a disservice to readers."
Davison added that redundancies are "not the answer" and that Reach has "demonstrated" over the last 12 months that constant cost-cutting does not work.
She added: "Instead of propping up operating profits and paying out dividends to shareholders, the company should invest in its journalists and focus on an emergency rescue plan to give the business the breathing space it needs.
"The NUJ is seeking a detailed breakdown of the company's proposals and will be engaging in formal consultations next month. We will hold a meeting for all members at Reach in the coming days and will be supporting them throughout this difficult time.
“More broadly, we will also continue to press the government to provide greater protections and investment in sector - including by properly regulating AI and introducing a windfall tax on tech giants to protect jobs and public access to local news."
Responding to the closure of Aberdeen Live, Scottish Green North East MSP Maggie Chapman said her party stands in solidarity with all the journalists impacted.
She said: “The closure of Aberdeen Live is a devastating blow to Scotland’s media landscape and will cause serious concerns for workers, their families, and the local community.
“Following the closure of STV North, it is crucial that local communities in the North East have reliable news sources at a regional level at a time when misinformation is running rampant.
“Our solidarity is with the journalists and staff at Aberdeen Live who will be affected by this announcement.”
