As editor exits, can Mirror and owner Reach survive ad crisis?

Concerns for future as staff morale hits new low and more job cuts loom at media group reliant on digital advertising

In the space of a year, Reach, the owner of the Mirror, Express and hundreds of local newspapers, has parted ways with the two most senior members of its editorial leadership team and cut almost 800 roles in the biggest annual cull of jobs in the newspaper industry for decades.

On Monday, Reach confirmed the departure by mutual agreement of Alison Phillips, a 26-year company veteran who was the Daily Mirror’s first female editor since it was founded in 1903, re-igniting fears among staff that the pre-Christmas jobs cull will continue this year.