Photo staff laid off at papers in North Sweden
Newspaper company Norrbottens Media told staff on Tuesday it was cutting positions at three of its news outlets in an effort to reduce costs.
Swedish Radio’s local channel in Norrbotten country reports that the company is letting go 18 employees from newspapers Norrländska Socialdemokraten and Norrbotten Kuriren as well as television station 24 Norrbotten.
All photographers from both papers will be laid off and photos will be handled by freelance photographers and remaining journalists.
“It is absolutely the saddest day in 30 years,” Tommy Lundqvist, chairman for the local chapter of the Swedish Journalists Union.
Negotiations on the layoffs will begin on Wednesday.
Related stories from around the North:
Canada: Politics, media misinformation & #sealfie, Eye on the Arctic
Norway: Journalists want to report on Barents region – Here’s why it’s not working, Barents Observer
Russia: Nordic information office suspends activities in Russia, Barents Observer
United States: Proposed cuts to public broadcasting funding rile rural Alaska radio listeners, Alaska Dispatch News
