Reach cuts 220 jobs and closes three regional sites

Reach, which owns the Daily Mirror, Daily Express, Daily Star, Manchester Evening News and Liverpool Echo, said the changes will also create about 60 new roles, mainly in subscriptions and long-form video production, while roughly 65 commercial jobs are expected to go. The company is also shutting KentLive, AberdeenLive and GalwayBeo.

Content chief David Higgerson told employees in an internal email that the group is dealing with falling traffic from Google search and intensifying competition from the BBC, according to the report from The Independent. A consultation process lasting at least 45 days is due to begin, with the cuts affecting print, digital and video staff.

For investors, the move highlights both the structural decline in traditional news publishing and the challenge of replacing lost traffic with paid-reader and video revenue. It also shows how AI is beginning to reshape media distribution, with publishers increasingly vulnerable to summary products that reduce the need for users to visit original sites.

The wider industry backdrop remains bleak: print circulation keeps eroding, digital advertising is under pressure, and automation is forcing publishers to run leaner operations. Reach’s latest round of cuts suggests the sector is still in the early stages of a broader reset, with more consolidation and job losses likely if search referrals keep falling.