The report said: "Trinity Mirror faces a stark choice as it moves online. It can continue to make cuts with an eye on maintaining short-term profit margins and watch the quality of its news decline over time, or it can ‘invest in journalism' with the aim of producing quality print and digital news products with a view to creating sustainable long-term profits."
The authors of the report, Dr Andrew Williams and Professor Bob Franklin, interviewed journalists and editors from Trinity Mirror Wales.
Staff stated that they were forced to produce online video and podcasts, as well as writing stories for print, with no more pay and without proper training.
Michael Hill, Trinity Mirror's regional head of multimedia, was quoted as saying that the move to online was like "turning round an oil tanker [...] some staff will never get it, but they will do what they are told to do".
The report stated Trinity management know they will encounter resistance to becoming "cross-platform content providers" from employees, but are bullish about pushing through the changes and refuse to hire more editorial staff.
Trinity Mirror is the UK's largest newspaper publisher. Editorial and production staff at the Group has been cut by 20% since 1999 -- 31% at Western Mail and Echo -- according to the report.
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