Reach Cuts 220 Editorial Jobs After Google Traffic Falls 46%

Reach, the publisher of the Mirror and Express, plans to cut 220 additional editorial jobs and close three online-only brands. The restructuring follows a 46% year-on-year decline in Google traffic that Reach says affected its digital page views as AI search features reduced the need for people to click through.

The company is also creating about 60 editorial roles to drive digital revenue growth, particularly through subscriptions and longer-form video. That leaves Reach cutting far more editorial roles than it is adding, while redirecting investment toward work it believes can support its journalism as audience habits change.

From clicks to time spent

Reach says it will move away from page views as its main audience measure and focus instead on active engaged time: how long readers actively spend with its material. David Higgerson, its chief content officer, said newsrooms would put less emphasis on story volume and more on original journalism and distinctive brands.

220Planned editorial cuts

Reach plans to cut 220 additional editorial jobs.

About 60Planned editorial roles

The new roles are intended to support digital revenue growth, including subscriptions and longer-form video.

46%Google traffic decline

Reach said the decline affected overall digital page views and linked it to Google AI Mode and AI Overviews.

A narrower local footprint, a broader revenue push

Reach will close KentLive, AberdeenLive and GalwayBeo, online-only brands it said were not dominant publishers in their regions. The closures show the immediate cost of the shift: less capacity for local digital publishing, alongside a smaller set of roles aimed at building revenue from readers and video.

Where Reach is placing its bets

• Subscriptions and other digital revenue.
• Longer-form video.
• Original journalism and distinctive brands over story volume.

Reach has 50,000 paid digital subscribers and is targeting 75,000 by the end of its current financial year. Digital revenue fell almost 1% to £128.9 million in the year to 3 March, underscoring the challenge of converting attention into income.

The company had already moved toward that model in June, when it created a Customer function spanning editorial, commercial and operations teams. Its responsibilities include subscriptions, circulation, ecommerce, affiliates and Reach’s US business. Reach also cut more than 300 editorial jobs after putting 600 roles at risk in an earlier September restructuring.