Portuguese media firm Medialivre, of which footballer Cristiano Ronaldo is the most important shareholder, will lay off quite a lot of its journalists — based on the nationwide union of media staff.
To date, 10 workers members have been knowledgeable that they are going to lose their jobs, Vitor Mota, a photojournalist at Medialivre and a union consultant, informed Euronews.
Mota, who is ready to lose his job, stated that the ten people had been handed a discover letter on Wednesday afternoon, the day earlier than Labour Day in lots of European international locations.
Mota famous that the introduced cuts at present have an effect on eight everlasting photojournalists at Medialivre’s headquarters in Lisbon and two everlasting writers within the Porto division.
An announcement from the Portuguese Journalists’ Union means that the job cuts could also be extra widespread, though Mota famous that it’s nonetheless too early to say this with certainty.
He famous that the union will contest the ten job cuts which have already been introduced. The affected journalists should work till the authorized logistics of the layoffs are finalised.
Medialivre counts round 730 workers in complete and roughly 300 of those workers are journalists.
“The Journalists’ Union has realized, with shock and shock, of Medialivre’s intention to hold out a mass layoff, specializing in photojournalists, which can cut back the variety of workers in publications equivalent to Correio da Manhã, Report, Jornal de Negócios and the journal Sábado,” the union stated in a press release launched on Wednesday.
“Asserting a mass layoff on the eve of Labour Day, which is a world landmark for previous labour achievements which might be more and more deteriorating, is unacceptable,” the group added.
Mota, who has labored with Medialivre since 2004, stated that the corporate is in search of to make use of extra “video grabs, firm photos, and citizen journalism”, as a substitute of counting on in-house photojournalists.
“We are able to see that they wish to lower jobs simply to save cash,” he informed Euronews, “nevertheless it’s our view {that a} media firm that has to depend on free pictures loses its independence”.
The Portuguese Journalists’ Union organised an illustration in Lisbon on Thursday afternoon in solidarity with Medialivre workers.
In relation to the job cuts, the group criticised the Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, who at present holds a 30% share in Medialivre.
“It’s regrettable that Ronaldo (whose wage, based on Forbes journal, was price over €250 million final yr) purchased a major a part of the corporate to be able to then permit layoffs to be carried out,” the union stated in a press release.
In addition to publishing newspapers Correio da Manhã, Report, Jornal de Negócios and the journal Sábado, Medialivre additionally owns the TV channel NOW.
Medialivre has not but responded to Euronews’ request for remark.