There isn't yet a thread on this so I thought I would start one.

Does anyone know anything more about the job cuts planned for our local newspaper? As far as I understand as well as job cuts they are considering the clossure of their Barnsley and Rotherham and Doncaster offices.

http://saveourstar.blogspot.com/2008_08_01_archive.html

I think one of the comments sums up my view: "The management should understand that cutting staff means a cut in reporting and ultimately a cut in readership."

The paper is a joke anyway and I can't see how the reporting could get any worse. What exactly do the people in those offices do?

The paper is a joke anyway and I can't see how the reporting could get any worse. What exactly do the people in those offices do?

The Star may not be perfect, but other local newspapers are much worse.

They seem to be talking about 5 redundancies and a load of voluntary exit packages. Sacking the Barnsley and the Rotherham reporters is not going to help with the range of articles that they can cover.

I would rather they were expanding and improving rather than contracting and getting worse.

http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=41887&c=1

There isn't yet a thread on this so I thought I would start one.

Does anyone know anything more about the job cuts planned for our local newspaper? As far as I understand as well as job cuts they are considering the clossure of their Barnsley and Rotherham and Doncaster offices.

http://saveourstar.blogspot.com/2008_08_01_archive.html

I think one of the comments sums up my view: "The management should understand that cutting staff means a cut in reporting and ultimately a cut in readership."

I was around at a friends yesterday a knock on the door a guy or guys where trying to persuade my friend to take the Star on a regular basis for 10p for a period of time they are desperate me thinks.

Well for 40p the paper is poor value the only day worth buying is a Thursday for the jobs section.

I was around at a friends yesterday a knock on the door a guy or guys where trying to persuade my friend to take the Star on a regular basis for 10p for a period of time they are desperate me thinks.

Well from the comment on that link it appears to have been happening for sometime and the quality of the paper has dropped recently.

I think we should be concerned though, because our democracy relies upon good quality news to inform our vote.

There isn't yet a thread on this so I thought I would start one.

Does anyone know anything more about the job cuts planned for our local newspaper? As far as I understand as well as job cuts they are considering the clossure of their Barnsley and Rotherham and Doncaster offices.

http://saveourstar.blogspot.com/2008_08_01_archive.html

I think one of the comments sums up my view: "The management should understand that cutting staff means a cut in reporting and ultimately a cut in readership."

This was started the other week when they made 5 people redundant.

More about it here-:

http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=380585&highlight=the+star

I can't speak for the Star, but local papers usually get the majority of their income from selling advertising space, and the biggest single chunk of that is usually the property section. Property isn't selling, estate agents are closing, so to cut costs those that remain are advertsing a reduced selection of their books and every other week instead of weekly.

How long will it be before there are no provincial papers? A further blow was sounded today with the news that Liverpool's Post and Echo are to leave the city to be printed in Oldham.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/7599729.stm

Further evidence today that the death-knell sounds again for provincial papers with 150 jobs to go at one of the country's better publications.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/7935737.stm

Well for 40p the paper is poor value the only day worth buying is a Thursday for the jobs section.

And even that's shrunk to almost nowt lately, OK there's not many jobs around these days but they could still flesh the job section out a bit.

And even that's shrunk to almost nowt lately, OK there's not many jobs around these days but they could still flesh the job section out a bit.

With what??

The Star have been making people redundant since last year. First the accounts department were moved to Leeds in October, then the department I worked in
also moved most of the work to Leeds in December. Have heard there could be some more redundancies but not certain how many or which department it will affect.

The Star have been making people redundant since last year. First the accounts department were moved to Leeds in October, then the department I worked in
also moved most of the work to Leeds in December. Have heard there could be some more redundancies but not certain how many or which department it will affect.

Sorry to hear of your plight but not at all surprised. I posted the two threads about papers outside Sheffield merely to highlight that it is a national problem, and not just one for Sheffield. Well before the 'crunch', I was at a lunch and picked up on some journalists who/representatives had been to a meeting on provincial news and it was said - after 2015, there won't be any provincial papers left!

They must have sacked all the proof-readers years ago, you have to re-read most articles to make any sense of the childish gobel-de-gook

Edit:Someone beat me to it lol

Well they seem to have delayed these cut backs atleast, it's ages since they sacked off their proof reader.....and the journalists.

They must have sacked all the proof-readers years ago, you have to re-read most articles to make any sense of the childish gobel-de-gook

When JP took over in Sheffield, they decided, in their wisdom, to get rid of all the proof readers, one of the biggest mistakes they could have made. It all comes down to making as much money as possible and not being bothered about how bad the paper is.

The only reason a lot of people buy the Star now is for the section on deaths :rolleyes: yeah tis true lol a few peeps have told me this. As you getting older you tend to look in the deaths column, as a former colleague/old friend neighbour may have passed on...you lose touch over the years and rely on that section to find out about em :rolleyes::(

As for the reporting..you may as well read SF, lol, the Star don't rreport much more than whats on here...or just read the website

Every day i say.....why do I bother buying the Star? :confused: Think its cause its a "habit" allus gotta have Star cos we bought it for years :hihi::hihi:

42 pence to read about cars whats been set on fire everynight and news they had in from 2 days before. 'The star' is rubbish compared to local papers in York, Selby and Hull. They would be better "taking a leaf out of their book" ...or paper as they say.

With what??

Your benefits explained section.

I'm being serious, people will not be claiming what they are entitled too.

People claiming in Sheffied are people spending in Sheffield.
Could make things a bit quicker at job centre too.

On the Isle of Wight we have a weekly newspaper (County Press) which is a very informative paper giving lots of news items, court issues and supplements each week about events that are happening and a property section which shows, properties for sale, rental and businesses for sale. There is a separate sports section plus a very comprehensive "'atches, matches, and despatches" section. And it only costs 70p.

Having been visiting Sheffield this weekend and seeing some issues of the Star I think this paper would benefit from being a weekly rather than daily newspaper. All the news items and other information you find in the star could easily be put into a weekly edition. One of the things that did strike me was the births and deaths columns whereby due to the lack of numbers they have made the columns extremely narrow thus spreading the notices making them look longer than they actually are and I would imagine a lot more costlier as I understand that they charge by the line rather than the word. I am absolutely amazed that people still actually put these notices in the star and allow them to get away with such a blatant rip-off.

im not suprised they are making cut backs, i work for an agency and believe it or not for a good size job advert (about half the size of a credit card) they quoted £870 + VAT last week! that why people advertise on the internet more. they charge the earth for a scabby local paper.

I have had a go at The Star before. There are a lot of negatives about it.
But some of the articles recently have made me giggle.

The cutbacks are not good for Sheffield or the economy. The main reason is a downturn in readership and revenue from advertising.

Like another poster has stated there are not as many jobs available. Hence less money for the Star jobs section. We have used the jobs section before and it is very expensive.

In addition the Property guide on the Telegraph has less houses to sell and the estate agents less money to spend.

Then add to that the massive downturn in the car industry and the three main advertising revenues for Sheffield Newspapers have been massively cut.

So it is no surprise they are having to make economic decisions themselves. Which is a shame for the city. Because it means more unemployed and possibly less money to spend on reporters and news.

In some ways the downturn at The Star was already happening because news is now cheaper and more immediately accessible from the internet, mobile phones and places like the forum.

The economic downturn is the straw that broke the camel's back.

But there is still a place for a local newspaper. They just have to move with the times and make every service they offer better.