The Times & Sunday Times merge online production
The Times and The Sunday Times newspapers have announced a merger of their online production teams in a move widely held to presage a full blooded merger of their editorial teams.
Around ten staff have been made redundant as a result of the online move, with each being asked to reapply for new posts as part of a combined ‘digital development and strategy’ unit.
Both titles are set upon a path of increasing cooperation within certain boundaries, owing to undertakings made by Rupert Murdoch at the time of his acquisition of the papers to preserve their distinctive identities.
News International are presently weighing up how far to go, mindful that the more entwined they become the harder it will be to effect a later sale of one or other.
Set against this is the attraction of increased margins which will inevitably find favour with investors.