What next for Dundee’s Three Js as D C Thomson cuts hundreds of jobs?
I was as shocked as anybody at news that D C Thomson, the company that put the third ‘J’ in Dundee’s 3Js is cutting 300 jobs from its workforce of 1600 – a total that’s shrunk by over 500 since 2016.
From its newspapers such as the Courier, Evening Telegraph, Press and Journal, The Sunday Post and People’s Friend, to the UK’s longest running comic, The Beano, everyone in Scotland has come across DCT in their lifetime.
The notoriously private family firm is axing around 40 publications and will close its operation in Colchester – Aceville Publications – which publishes over 20 magazines from the 50 or so DCT acquired in 2018.
How did it come to the point where a stalwart of Scotland’s newspaper and magazine publishing sector – as well as the relatively recent addition of commercial radio to its portfolio – can deliver such devastating news?
DCT has always been cautious when planning ahead. Moving into radio and taking on Wave in Dundee, Kingdom FM in Fife and Original 106 in Aberdeen was a brave move, but not an ultimately fatal one.
Management at DCT are now planning a digital reset as more and more publications go online, where they are likely to stay.
It’s a great shame that one of the biggest names in Scottish newspapers and journalism should stumble over a digital hurdle.
I will always remember the day I stepped into the magnificent, red sandstone-clad building in Meadowside, Dundee for my first day at work there.
From a uniformed doorman at the main office of the Courier Building, to the rumble of the presses underneath and the hissing of the compressed air system that sped messages between Meadowside and the Bank Street offices and press hall, I was an awe-struck young man.
A reporter came down to meet me and guided me into the lift that trundled us to the fourth floor. I had been there before for an interview with a stern-looking relic with a grey, handlebar moustache who had demanded to know what my religion was, but this was different – I was about to start work in a place whose training had help journalists secure placements in national publications and further afield in print and in broadcasting.
I made many friends at DCT, but a number of them are unfortunately long gone. I did my fair share of council meetings, district, sheriff and high courts, all helped by DCT’s in-house shorthand classes.
The company knew what it wanted from its reporters and its training ensured that they were fit for the job, either in Dundee, one of the many branch offices, or at other newspapers.
I only stayed at DCT for a few years before spreading my wings and departing Clootie City for pastures new, but I treasure my memories of the time and the people.
Every time I am back in the city I like to walk around just to see the New York Times-inspired Courier Building dominating the town centre.
I am sure DCT will survive this “blip” and welcome many more generations of young hopefuls into Meadowside’s hallowed halls.
Picture Copyright 2017 Laerol. First publication through Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-SA-4.0 license).
admin