A Cold Chill Blows As Winter Departs

Yesterday The Times’ chief football writer Henry Winter tweeted some personal news.

The pith of it: “Been made redundant.”

Among TB’s football correspondents – we have many – there was a difference of opinion on this matter.

The prevailing, rather mean, view was that he’s an overpaid toff who had it coming.

I rather liked his work and when I was stewarding the press box on match days at Nottingham Forest 30 years ago, he was always a gent. Something that could not be said about many of his colleagues.

By all accounts Winter was very well paid – his salary was rumoured to begin with a four, by which I do not mean he got £40,000.

Some say he was doomed when the even more highly paid Martin Samuel arrived from The Mail. Samuel is genuinely brilliant, one of those few journalists who is worth the cover price alone.

I am worth the cover price alone at the Evening Standard. Sadly, it’s free.

What does the Winter news mean? It means a cold chill is coming and not just to sports desks.

One writer tweeted: “Yesterday one of England’s best football journalists Henry Winter was made redundant. Today, the Daily Mail is publishing a story about Kobbie Mainoo wearing a blue jacket out to dinner with his friends. That’s it, that’s literally the story. The media industry is doomed.”

The Press Gazette, which I’ve just noticed has a strapline “fighting for quality news media in the digital age” – good luck with that – reports that the Mail’s sports desk has been told to expect “significant restructuring”.

Skilfully, or perhaps incompetently, business journalists have managed to engineer being paid a lot less than the top sports hacks, but it’s hard to see how we aren’t also vulnerable

For flak land, this means you dealing with ever younger, cheaper, less experienced hacks.

You might enjoy the advantage that gives you. Or you might get quickly and thoroughly sick of it.

The news is going to get stupider.