Guido hears around one hundred Telegraph staff have been sacked today in a cost-cutting drive under new owner, the German company Axel Springer. Some Fridays are more brutal than others…
All Telegraph staff were emailed on Thursday inviting them to an “all staff town hall” today at 10 a.m, in-person only.
Telegraph CEO Carolin Hulshoff Pol started the meeting by talking up the paper’s recent successes, saying there was hope for the future, after which there was a “deathly silence” when she expected everyone to clap. They didn’t because the staff knew what was coming…
Next she announced anyone who was being fired would get an email by midday – just 90 minutes away by the time the meeting finished.
Wide cuts to the culture desk have been made – most if not all the editors have gone – plus sport and fashion. One fashion staff member looked furious coming out of the meeting. And the CEO apparently kept saying “rule” when she meant to say “role” which caused bemusement. Guido hears the Lobby team has been preserved at the expense of reporters on the other desks. Politics…
On a separate note Axel Springer has tried to buy the European arm of TikTok. Could the sacked Tel staff move there?
Robert Jenrick on the Today programme:
“Can you now give a guarantee to your listeners this morning that no BBC presenter in the future will be exposed as a paedophile, as a number have been in the recent past? No, of course you can’t…”