Archant's head office accidentally sent an email to a reporter
working on its paper the Weston & Somerset Mercury outlining a
possible asset swap of its Archant Scotland, Devon and Somerset titles
for Newsquest's Colchester papers.
One insider said that when the office realised what it had done the email disappeared from the journalist's machine.
An
insider said: "It's a massive talking point here. It was a horrible way
to find out, the people in Weston found out about it last week and then
it leaked down to Exeter today. I don't know if the people in Scotland
know yet."
Another insider said the general reaction from staff was "not good".
Development director Ian Davies said he would not comment on internal or external emails.
Archant's
titles in the specified divisions include the Weston & Somerset
Mercury, the Exmouth Journal and the Buchan Observer.
Newsquest's Colchester assets include the Colchester Evening Gazette and the Brentwood Weekly Times.
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