Stuff Digital's latest proposed job cuts could see it lose editorial staff with deep institutional knowledge, but that was the "reality of media today", says a commentator.The media company has confirmed that up to eight journalism jobs are on the line in a "simplified structure" of its editorial team.The announcement of possible job losses at Stuff Digital are just the latest in a series of cuts across the local media sector over the past three years.Gavin EllisFormer NZ Herald editor-in-chief Gavin Ellis said cutting eight roles from a small digital team would be significant."You cannot take people out of an organisation as small as that, without it having an impact."Stuff Digital said on Wednesday it had begun consultation with some of its editorial team on a simplified structure across national newsrooms which may result in a reduction of eight staff.While there is a total Stuff Group editorial headcount of more than 300, that number mostly includes the masthead newspaper newsrooms. This proposal is believed to directly affect a team of about 30 to 40. The media firm said it was proposing to invest in new roles in its in-depth journalism team and in specialist content areas.The E tū union said it was supporting members at Stuff Digital following the announcement.Director Mat Danaher said having a properly resourced team of journalists and editors was "the best guarantee of accurate, distinctive and high-quality news"."Technological change can support that work, but it should not be used to create a false sense of efficiency through staff cuts. Fewer journalists and editors inevitably means less capacity to cover stories, scrutinise those in power and produce the journalism New Zealanders rely on.""E tū members understand that the media landscape is changing. They also believe New Zealand needs strong and sustainable news organisations, with enough professional journalists to produce the quality reporting our communities rely on. That requires media workers' skills, experience, and contribution to be properly recognised. Any proposed changes must be carefully considered, with genuine consultation and clear information provided to workers."He said Stuff Digital was proposing to consolidate 19 journalist and reporter roles into 11 positions, reduce six editor roles to three, and remove four platform editor roles, a multimedia content producer role and the chief daily editor role.Digital cuts a 'set-back'Ellis said the latest cuts were a concern as the longer term strategy of media was a digital one."So cutting digital staff at this stage I think has got to be seen as a set back."He said an advantage for Stuff was being able to use news content from mastheads - including The Post, The Press, and Sunday Star Times.But Ellis said the company would be losing people with deep institutional knowledge."It's unfortunate, but it's the reality of media today."Rival media firm NZME announced early last year that it was cutting almost 40 roles from the NZ Herald, BusinessDesk and Newstalk ZB news operation.TVNZ cut about 68 jobs in 2024, while former rival Newshub shut down, resulting in 294 staff losing their jobs.Whakaata Māori - formerly Māori Television - also cut 27 jobs at the end of 2024, while RNZ called for voluntary redundancies after its funding was cut in 2025."I live and hope that one day I'll start to see stories about media increasing their staff rather than decreasing," Ellis said.The Spinoff founder Duncan Grieve said while the proposed cuts were very unpleasant, they were also part of running a newsroom at scale today."I feel deeply all of those affected, and yet at the same time, I can't bring myself to kind of cast blame on Stuff because this is something that's happening around newsrooms around the world all the time."He felt that while people could judge where the cuts were focused, newsroom managers and executives typically had a good sense of where value lay in organisations.Stuff Digital is co-owned by chief executive Sinead Boucher, while Trade Me bought 50 percent of the company last year.The company split into two divisions - Stuff Digital and Masthead Publishing - in 2024.Last year, union members fought of the divided entities to have the same payrises, with staff walking off the job in protest.