The National Union of Journalists has accused STV’s leadership of failing staff and presiding over a newsroom suffering from excessive workloads, low morale and widespread distrust, in an open letter sent to chief executive Rufus Radcliffe ahead of the broadcaster’s annual general meeting.
The intervention comes just days after Ofcom approved controversial plans to cut jobs and axe the northern edition of STV’s News at 6 programme despite opposition from staff, politicians and viewers. According to the union, only 4% of viewers supported the proposals.
In the letter, NUJ Scotland national organiser Nick McGowan-Lowe said a series of leadership failures had left journalists feeling “disillusioned, demoralised, and undervalued.”
He wrote: “Staff have overwhelmingly lost confidence in you, your management team and the strategic direction of the company.”
The union said its latest survey of newsroom members found that 93% had no confidence in STV’s senior management, while only 3% expressed confidence in Radcliffe’s leadership following the announcement of job cuts. It also claimed 89% of respondents had no confidence that the broadcaster’s current business strategy would return the company to growth.
The dispute follows a no-confidence motion passed by NUJ members at STV in October 2025, targeting Radcliffe and his leadership team over what the union described as “financial mismanagement” and the abandonment of a strategy refresh programme. A second motion was later passed against senior editorial leaders.
The NUJ argues that trust has deteriorated further in the months since.
The letter also raises concerns about staff wellbeing, claiming newsroom employees are struggling with workloads following cuts made before Ofcom had concluded its consultation on reducing regional news output. According to the union’s survey, less than a third of staff believe their workload is manageable, while two-thirds say they cannot take sufficient breaks during the working day. Nearly four in five respondents reported frequent stress linked to work.
One staff member quoted in the survey said: “We’re constantly turning down stories and jobs because we don’t have the people or camera to send to them. People are being stretched so thin that it’s a miracle we’re even getting on air sometimes.”
The union also accused STV management of poor communication around organisational changes, with 82% of respondents saying senior management does not keep staff informed about significant developments affecting the business.
Beyond workload concerns, the letter alleges that newsroom morale has collapsed following months of uncertainty over restructuring plans and pay.
The union noted that STV has declined to offer a pay award for 2026 and has not indicated what any compensatory award for 2027 might look like.
Among the strongest criticisms is an allegation of editorial interference during coverage of the broadcaster’s own restructuring programme.
The NUJ said STV journalists had sought to report fairly on industrial action, regulatory scrutiny and political criticism surrounding the cuts, but claimed their editorial judgement had faced “direct interference from the commercial interests of the company.”
McGowan-Lowe’s letter concludes by calling on Radcliffe and members of STV’s board to meet urgently with the NUJ and broadcasting union Bectu to discuss immediate measures to tackle low morale, workplace stress and staff wellbeing concerns.
STV Chief Executive Rufus Radcliffe commented: “I, and the leadership team, recognise that the structural changes we have to make in the face of significantly shifting viewing habits are unsettling for colleagues. Ultimately these essential changes will help protect regional journalism and will be in the best interests of our colleagues by making our news service sustainable in the longer term.
“The health and wellbeing of our colleagues is of the utmost importance and we would encourage them to raise these matters with the Company directly and appropriate measures will be taken.”
The NUJ letter in full
Dear Rufus,
I’m writing this open letter ahead of Friday’s AGM to put on the record our serious concerns about your leadership and to raise immediate concerns about how the strategic decisions made by you are impacting on the health and wellbeing of your staff.
As we have said before, the NUJ shares your objective that STV should be a modern, profitable company. We engage here in that spirit. However that objective cannot come at the expense of the health of its employees.
Our members are also conscious of the valuable work STV News does in informing and entertaining viewers. You will also be aware that the NUJ has given assurances that it will hold no strikes which will affect World Cup coverage because our members recognise this is a historic event for Scottish viewers, as well as being a financially significant event for the company.
STV is going through a major period of change. Since the last AGM the value of the company has halved. It has axed one of Scotland’s media success stories – the STV North News at 6, a decision only supported by 4% of viewers. It has faced significant reputational damage, and your leadership has been questioned at Holyrood and Westminster. There is a realistic possibility that by the end of the year STV may no longer be an independent company. Any organisational change on this scale is difficult and is a test of leadership and management. By any measure, that test has been failed.
The wider backdrop to all of the following is the company’s refusal to give any pay award for 2026, nor to even give any indication as to what a compensatory pay award would be in 2027. This has left our members feeling disillusioned, demoralised, and undervalued.
Your staff have no confidence in your leadership
Your staff at STV News include some of the best-respected and most experienced names in Scottish journalism, as well as talent from all ages. Those staff have overwhelmingly lost confidence in you, your management team and the strategic direction of the company.
As you know, NUJ members at STV have already passed two motions of no-confidence. The first, passed in October 2025, said they “have no confidence in the chief executive Rufus Radcliffe and his leadership team to continue to lead us in light of financial mismanagement and the failure and abandonment of the strategy refresh in May.” The following month, a second similar damning motion of no confidence was passed on the Head of News and Current Affairs and the Head of Digital and Cross Platform.
It is important you understand that this situation has not improved in the months since, and if anything, it has become worse. The opportunity to win back the trust of staff has not been taken.
A new survey of our members in the newsroom carried out this week shows only 3% have any confidence in your leadership as Chief Executive since the announcement of job cuts, and 93% have no have no confidence at all in the leadership of STV’s senior management. 89% have no confidence that the current business strategy of STV will result in a return to growth.
In fact recent statements you have made to staff, such as this week describing the granting of regulatory approval for the axing of the STV North edition of the News at 6 as “good news” have been ill-judged and only widened the divide between staff and management.
As one respondent said: “When the chief executive is ‘delighted’ at something which will cause misery for many of his staff there is a problem.”
There has been a failure to properly manage or communicate change
Against the advice of the NUJ, STV insisted on carrying out significant cuts in the newsroom before the regulator had even begun consultation on the proposed reduction of programming. We warned that this could cause stress and illness. We have been proven right.
Our members in the newsroom are significantly overworked. The NUJ has carried out HSE’s workplace stress survey and found that less than a third (29%) of staff say their workload is manageable. Two-thirds of staff cannot take sufficient breaks during their working day, and three-quarters say they don’t have the resources to do their job effectively.
One respondent said: “We’re constantly turning down stories and jobs because we don’t have the people or camera to send to them. People are being stretched so thin that it’s a miracle we’re even getting on air sometimes and that means there is sometimes no production help available to the six o’clock news programme.”
82% of our members at STV say that senior management doesn’t keep staff informed about significant changes in the business. 89% disagree with the statement “Changes affecting my work are communicated clearly”. 86% of our members say management doesn’t consult employees when planning changes.
One member of staff in the newsroom said: “The entire process of the redesigning of the news output in recent months has been disgraceful… We are very much expected to change how we do things at the drop of a hat with no support.”
The mental and physical health of your staff is suffering as a result of your leadership
This uncertainty and overwork is making your employees ill. 79% say they often feel stressed because of their work. A similar percentage said this adversely affects their mental health, with half saying it affects their physical health.
One respondent to our survey said: “I have never worked in a company before where the work force has been so belittled. They are unmotivated, struggling, overworked and over stressed in the worst possible way.”
Another said: “I have never in any company I’ve worked for felt so much displeasure, trauma, uncertainty and honestly pain coming from a work force – a team so friendly, optimistic and supportive has been torn down to us barely clinging on. The treatment over the last ten months has been abhorrent.”
A further respondent said: “The people are the best thing about STV but it seems management don’t see that… It is clear that bosses do not care about us.”
Editorial interference
The cuts at STV has been one of the major media stories in Scotland in the last eight months, and has rightly brought scrutiny from both parliaments, from the regulator, from trade unions, and from the public.
During this, STV News’ journalists have sought to cover these events impartially and fairly, putting aside their own views and laying out balanced reporting of all sides.
However it is with grave concern that the editorial judgements of the newsroom have faced direct interference from the commercial interests of the company.
One respondent said: “It has been made clear that Rufus and upper management do not care about protecting the well-deserved positive reputation and trust that STV News has created. They are running the programme into the ground.”
Action is needed
I have laid out in detail the feeling in the newsroom, and the consequences your lack of leadership so far has had a direct impact on the health of staff, on shareholders, on editorial independence, and ultimately on viewers and advertisers.
This cannot go on.
I am calling on you personally to meet urgently with the joint unions, together with relevant members of the board, to understand the wider issues from the NUJ’s HSE survey, and for you to lay out concrete steps on an immediate and medium term timescale which will address the issues listed above.
Yours sincerely,
Nick McGowan-Lowe
NUJ Scotland national organiser
