Sun Media shuts 11 papers
24 Hours in Ottawa one of three biggest
MONTREAL Eleven newspapers, including free newspapers in three major Canadian cities, are the latest casualties of the digital revolution.
Québecor Media subsidiary Sun Media Corp., announced Tuesday that it is shutting down urban dailies 24 Hours in Edmonton, Calgary and Ottawa and eight other publications in smaller communities, eliminating 360 jobs in the process.
Combined with operational changes, the closings are expected to generate savings of about $55 million a year, the company said.
“In recent years, the print media industry has been going through an unprecedented transformation such as it has never seen before,” said Julie Tremblay, chief operating officer for Sun Media, in a statement.
“The management decisions we are making are difficult and highly regrettable, particularly the job cuts. However, the downsizing is necessary to maintain a strong positioning for our news media outlets on all platforms, and more broadly to secure our corporation’s future success in an industry that is being revolutionized by the advent of digital.”
Parent company Québecor reported operating income of $320 million for the first quarter of 2013, but virtually all of it came from its cable, Internet and wireless division, Videotron, which has been on a roll for a decade.
Québecor’s net profit for the quarter was $35.6 million, down from $71.4 million a year ago, on flat revenue of $1 billion.
“Digital is more than a strong trend,” Tremblay said. “Today, young people are getting their information almost exclusively from digital sources such as computers, smartphones and tablets. We are working to meet the needs of all our readers and advertisers in this new environment. We are therefore making investments and expanding our highpotential newspapers and publications across all platforms, print and digital.”
Sun Media said it made the decision to close the three 24 Hours newspapers because it wants to focus on a single urban newspaper in each market, except Montreal and Toronto, where it says large transit systems warrant publishing the free papers.
The company will also continue to publish 24 Hours in Vancouver, where Sun Media doesn’t have another daily newspaper.
But it’s the end of the run for the Lindsay Daily Post and Midland Free Press in Ontario, Meadow Lake Progress in Saskatchewan and Lac du Bonnet Leader and Beausejour Review in Manitoba. Also shuttered are Quebec papers Le Magazine de Saint-Lambert, Le Progrés de Bellechasse and L’Action Régionale in Monterégie, Que.
“When a newspaper is gutted or even closed, it hurts more than just the people working there. The whole community suffers,” said Paul Morse, president of the Local 87-M of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union, representing employees of Sun Media across Ontario. “This is another devastating blow to quality journalism in Canada,” Morse said.