Postmedia merges newsrooms across Canada, lays off 90

Canadian mega-newspaper collector Postmedia (TSX:PNC.B, Forum) has announced another round of lay-offs in its two-newspaper cities, Edmonton, Calgary, Ottawa, and Vancouver.

In Vancouver, that will mean the Vancouver Sun and Province papers working out of one office, with one journalist covering local stories that will then be tuned to the “voice” of each paper for their own use.

Ninety people have lost their jobs after it was announced Tuesday that media company, Postmedia is to merge newsrooms in four cities across the country. The two Ottawa papers will also offer buyouts, which could result in another 50 employees leaving the company, she said.

Speaking of the cuts, Postmedia CEO Paul Godfrey said the company will continue to operate separate brands in each of affected markets, but “what is changing is how we produce these products”, adding that We know “this will not be without its challenges and we know there will be bumps along the road”.

Postmedia bought the Sun tabloid newspaper chain from Quebecor Inc in a deal that closed in April previous year and gave it control of most of the major English-language dailies in Canada. In Ottawa, they are looking to hire a new Editor who will be responsible for both the Ottawa Citizen and the Ottawa Sun. Gelfand said the company is creating a national sports writing team to consist of existing employees.

The Managing Editor of the Edmonton Sun, Donna Harker, was also let go Tuesday.

Last week, when Postmedia, which owns the National Post and the Toronto Sun, reported its latest earnings, executives made it clear that it was accelerating its goal to cut costs as it continues to bleed advertising, print circulation and digital media revenue.

Postmedia recently announced a cost cutting program to find at least $80 million in savings before the fiscal end of 2017. “The rapidly shifting revenue climate has required that we change the cost structure that was built for a different revenue model”.

– With files from Bruce Cheadle in Ottawa and David Friend in Toronto.