Saltwire to merge four weekly papers in Central N.L.

Free paper The Central Voice will combine The Pilot, The Advertiser, The Nor’wester and The Beacon

Atlantic Canada’s biggest newspaper publisher is merging four of its weekly Newfoundland papers into a single publication.

The Saltwire Network announced Thursday that, as of Aug. 1, The Central Voice replaces The Pilot, The Advertiser, The Nor’wester and The Beacon in bringing the news to the residents of Central Newfoundland.

Instead of a paid-for paper, The Central Voice will be a free weekly publication delivered to 32,000 residents in the area.

“These were all very small subscriber-based publications,” said Ian Scott, the chief operating officer and executive vicepresident of Saltwire Network. “Now we will have a much larger footprint that makes them a viable market for advertising.”

Last month Saltwire, parent company of The Chronicle Herald, also announced that it was transforming another one of its Newfoundland papers from a paid-subscription to free publication.

Starting immediately, The Compass will be delivered to 12,000 homes in the Conception Bay North area each week.

It’s a strategy that Saltwire has already used in Nova Scotia.

Earlier this year it announced that it was merging The Amherst News and The Citizen Record into a single free community publication to be delivered to all residents of Cumberland County.

As well The Truro Daily News and The News in New Glasgow shifted from paid-for daily publications to paid-for weekly publications, with The Truro Daily News becoming the Truro News.

Saltwire also consolidated The Queens County Advance with the South Shore Breaker to create a single community newspaper for the South Shore.

“Basically, we’re doing the same thing in Newfoundland as we did in Nova Scotia: aligning our products around communities and making advertising focused vehicles where it makes economic sense,” said Scott who added that this is expected to be the last consolidation of this type for the company.

Five people will lose jobs in Newfoundland because of the changes, mostly, Scott said, on the circulation and clerical side.

Operations for both The Compass and The Central Voice will be managed out of the St. John’s offices of the Saltwire-owned Telegram.