National Press

John Reynolds, mediaweek.co.uk, 16 February 2009, 11:00am

Guardian Media Group imposes pay freeze for 2009

LONDON - Guardian Media Group, the owner of the Guardian newspaper, has imposed a pay freeze for 2009 due to the economic problems hitting the media industry.

Carolyn McCall: chief executive of Guardian Media Group

The group joins the likes of publisher IPC and broadcaster ITV in imposing a pay freeze, which will apply to the entire business, including Guardian.co.uk, the Manchester Evening News, GMG Radio and GMG Property Services.

Trader Media Group and Emap, which are partly owned by GMG, will not be affected by the pay freeze.

GMG said that bonuses based on financial performance will also be scrapped for the year.

A spokesman for GMG said: "It is important that our businesses take prudent, responsible steps to adapt to the current climate and prepare for what is widely expected to be a very difficult 2009. These steps are designed to protect those businesses for the long term and to minimise any impact on people's jobs."

The Guardian and The Observer are currently undergoing a review of their commercial operations, carried out by accountancy firm Deloitte. The review is not expected to result in widespread job cuts.