Sale of Atlantic Canada’s biggest newspaper chain could reduce local content: expert
Global News
An expert who tracks Canada's mainstream media industry says Postmedia's pending purchase of Atlantic Canada's largest newspaper chain is almost certain to result in job cuts,
An expert who tracks Canada’s mainstream media industry says Postmedia’s pending purchase of Atlantic Canada’s largest newspaper chain is almost certain to result in job cuts and a reduction in local content.
April Lindgren, a journalism professor with Toronto Metropolitan University, says Postmedia Network Inc. has also made a habit of closing unprofitable publications, having shut down 57 news outlets since 2008 — more than any other media company in Canada.
“Postmedia’s strategy has been to reduce many newspapers to pale shadows of what they once were by cutting expenses and cutting the number of reporters on the ground,” Lindgren said in an interview. “I don’t anticipate a change in strategy if this deal happens.”
On Friday, Postmedia announced plans to buy “certain businesses” belonging to SaltWire Network Inc. and The Halifax Herald Ltd., the two insolvent media companies that in March were granted court-ordered protection from creditors who were owed more than $90 million.
Toronto-based Postmedia owns the National Post, Vancouver Sun, Calgary Herald and dozens of other publications. The acquisition is subject to approval from the Nova Scotia Supreme Court and to “satisfactory outcomes” with unionized workers, the company said. It did not disclose any financial details.
A representative from Postmedia could not be immediately reached for comment.
Magda Konieczna, a journalism professor at Concordia University in Montreal, said Postmedia is known for limiting its investments in local news.
“It’s makes me worry … about just how much more local news space will continue to be eroded through this acquisition,” Magda said in an interview. “Our local democracy needs more than the investment that Postmedia has been willing to put into local news.”
The family behind one of Canada’s most well-known ice-cream brands says they’re absorbing “all immediate increases in our costs” as the U.S.-Canada trade war heats up.
Friedrich Trump called his business in Bennett, a town that sprang up because of the Klondike Gold Rush, the Arctic Restaurant & Hotel.
A new poll suggests that 40 per cent of Canadians are worried about losing their jobs as many businesses scale back hiring plans in response to the trade war with the U.S.
At the Halifax Stanfield International Airport, the tariff trade war between Canada and the U.S. is leaving flyers who travel between the two countries feeling very uneasy.
The man pleaded guilty to one count of violating the Migratory Birds Regulations after hunting snow geese without a permit, says a release from the ECCC.
Doug Ford is set to fly in and out of the U.S. capital on Thursday for a meeting with President Donald Trump's commerce secretary which could calm or reignite trade tensions.
'Half of us here are dual citizens, including me -- Canadian and American, half of us,' Point Roberts resident Brian Calder told Global News.
The proposed upgrades include parking lot improvements, wider trails, and a 2.4-metre-wide multi-use pathway.
Carney will replace Justin Trudeau after winning a race for the Liberal leadership on Sunday, and will take the reins of government amid a growing trade war with the U.S.
A Toronto woman who faced multiple charges in a dog attack that seriously injured a child has pleaded guilty to some of them, including a criminal charge of negligence.
Doug Ford was spending Wednesday meeting with Canada's incoming prime minister and speaking to his fellow premiers ahead of a trip Thursday to Washington, D.C.
The Bank of Canada cut its benchmark rate by 25 basis points, bringing it down to 2.75 per cent. Experts say the outlook for the housing market remains hazy.
Officers received a call shortly after noon Wednesday about an unconscious person who was found on the slopes, lying near a tree.