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Truro City FC chairman Peter Masters gives evidence at tribunal over newspapers sold for £1

An employment tribunal heard 27 journalists and staff were made redundant when the weekly newspapers went bust in January

REPORT BY ANITA MERRITT & GRAEME WILKINSON FOR CORNWALL LIVE

The chairman of Truro City Football Club has given evidence at a tribunal about a series of weekly newspapers he sold for £1.

The employment tribunal is looking into who is liable for paying money owed to 27 members of staff after the View From media series went bust.

The business had been acquired by Peter Masters, who is also the chairman of Truro City Football Club and the director of Cornwall Today magazine, in July 2017.

However the news publications, which covered the areas of Dorset, Devon and Somerset, closed in January and the staff were made redundant.

They claim they are all still awaiting pay in lieu of notice, redundancy money and arrears of pay.

Mr Masters, the sole shareholder at the time, then sold the business later that month for £1 to Duncan Williams, a media director at Vibe Marketing Group Ltd.

Giving evidence at the tribunal in Exeter, Mr Masters denied having known Mr Williams before the deal, despite a barrister presenting evidence his name and details had appeared on the View From website and blog in December 2017.

Peter Masters is the chairman of Truro City Football Club

Mr Masters said it had come as ‘a surprise’ when he was made aware of it at a later date, but said he understood Mr Williams had been interested in purchasing the titles back in July when he was the one to take it out of administration.

Mr Masters confirmed he resigned as director when the deal was struck with Mr Williams.

He added staff had been on ‘garden leave’ from January 4, but barrister James Arnold, representing the claimants told how their account of events was they had been locked out of office and told to remove their belongings and were not required to work again.

The new owner, Mr Williams, who was not present at the tribunal, claims he only purchased the intellectual property rights for the brands.

The hearing is scheduled to last for three days but on Wednesday the judge will decide whether Mr Williams is personally responsible for the claims or if Vibe Marketing Group Ltd is.

However, the claimants are likely to have to wait until next year for another hearing to make their own representations of what is owed to them.

The court heard all the employees were dismissed when the titles they worked for ceased publication on January 4.

Duncan Williams

Noting the absence of Mr Williams, employment judge Nicholas Roper said: “He has chosen not to attend.”

Evidence was given to support Mr Williams's intention to continue the business.

Mr Williams runs independent news and marketing service the Poole Post. He is also a commercial development consultant with News Group Ltd and a director of Vibe Marketing.

Mr Williams launched a crowdfunding bid, with a target of £85,000, to revive the series of closed weekly newspapers.

The employment tribunal continues.

LICENSED TO BLOG

"As community blogging becomes more familiar in towns and neighbourhoods across the UK, a standard of blog news creditably could be awarded by local newspapers," says publisher Duncan Williams of Pulman's Weekly News.

"Blogs are great because we all have the chance to have our say. But with so many varieties of views and voices being able to publish on sorts of subjects and reports, regional newspaper editors might be wise to offer local digital certificates, or accredited rosettes, something like the blue ticks on twitter accounts, so as to authenticate credible and reliable sources of news."



PAYING BLOGGERS FOR THEIR CONTENT

Says Duncan: "Our local newspaper brands have established ethical reputations that have, in some cases, spanned over a hundred years or more. With the boom within the digital sphere we know that there is no shortage of content, but clearly professional local news outlets need the right sort of content and would probably be willing to pay grassroots bloggers for it.

"In an age of fake news it's always good to have a news source you can trust.

"Bloggers, Vloggers, Live-streamers and the traditional press must now work together. We seek the quality amongst the quantity."

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Duncan Williams @PulmansView

Crowdfunding bid launched to save axed weekly news series

A media and marketing director has launched a bid to revive a series of weekly newspapers which shut last week with the loss of around 20 jobs.

Duncan Williams, left, has started a crowdfunding campaign following the closure of the ‘View From’ series – which serve towns in Dorset, Devon and Somerset.

The series has ceased publication, resulting in around 20 redundancies, less than six months after the titles were bought by Truro City Football Club chairman Peter Masters in July last year.

The purchase followed his buyout of the Liskeard-based Sunday Independent earlier in 2017.

Duncan is a commercial development consultant with News Group Ltd, and runs Dorset-based marketing service the Poole Post.

He is aiming to raise £85,000 by 3 March to buy the ‘View From’ titles and take them into community ownership.

In a pitch to potential investors on his crowdfunding page, Duncan said: “This is very sad news indeed for Dorset and the south. Local newspapers are the voice of our communities. In this era of ‘fake news’, brands that have over a 100 years of reporting creditably should not be lost. We now have a whole county dominated by American owned media giant Newsquest.

“In addition to Dorset, View News faithfully covered stories in the counties of Somerset and Devon for many years. Highlighting local interest stories and helping to profile small businesses in these areas, View News and Pulman’s Weekly News are trusted and respected brands. Too good to lose.

“We are proposing new community ownership business model. And in doing so we aim to prove to the city banks, venture capitalists and advertising agencies that regional communities value their local media.

“It offers a chance for local people to have a real stake in and to share their views and voices as part of their own local media group.”

The newspapers affected by last week’s closures are the View From titles based in Beaminster, Bridport, Dorchester, Lyme Regis, Weymouth, Seaton, Honiton and South Somerset, and the Pulman’s Weekly News which is based in Axminster.

A spokesman for the Independent said last week: “Having acquired the titles out of administration in July of last year we agreed to continue publishing the loss-making titles for six months in a bid to give continued employment for the staff.

“But in the light of continued falling revenues, we have reluctantly decided that the titles are no longer sustainable.”

Report by David Sharman for Holdthefrontpage.co.uk