#postmedia

Atlantic Canada's largest newspaper chain is now officially owned by Toronto-based Postmedia Network Inc.

On Monday, Postmedia confirmed the closing of its $1-million purchase of SaltWire Network Inc. and the Halifax Herald Ltd. in a short statement on its website. The sale was approved by a Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge on Aug. 8.

Andrew MacLeod, Postmedia's president and CEO, said his company is "delighted" to welcome the new media properties, saying the sale "preserves their vital role within the community."

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Let's explore why this is a very bad thing.

Postmedia, the company that just bought a chain of over two dozen Atlantic canada newspapers, is known for many things- none of them good.

This is an incomplete list of harmful things that Postmedia and its executives have done/are known for:

Right-wing politics. "The National Post was founded in 1998 by Conrad Black, who has connections to conservative politics and sat as a Conservative Party member of the United Kingdom's House of Lords. The Post has always been aligned with the right side of the political spectrum. ..."Just in the past couple of years, Postmedia has issued an edict stating that they should move even farther to the right, so they're very reliably conservative," said [Media journalist Marc] Edge. "In fact, [they] endorse Conservative candidates often over the objections of their local editors.""

Union busting. "They employed a mix of cajoling (such as with buyouts and raises), entreaties to preserve the paper’s uniquely collegial newsroom culture, office-wide memos decrying the havoc a union would wreak, and, according to CWA Canada President Martin O’Hanlon, one-on-one meetings between staff and management."

Monopolization of canadian news media. "Postmedia Network’s purchase of Saltwire Network will extend its grip from coast to coast, as it already dominates Western Canada with eight of the nine largest dailies in the three westernmost provinces. This purchase will give Postmedia the largest dailies in Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland to go along with the largest in New Brunswick, which it acquired from the Irving Oil family two years ago."

Cuts to pensions and benefits while giving large bonuses to executives. "...several top Postmedia executives had received enormous retention bonuses at a time of aggressive belt-tightening (after which many left regardless), and second, the March 2017 announcement that benefits and pensions would be curtailed significantly."

Already beginning to lay off staff from the Atlantic canada newspapers they now own. "...the long-term future of workers in departments like circulation, advertising, customer service, finance and production remains uncertain. "Staff believe maintaining local jobs in the community is critical to retaining both subscribers and clients," the union said. Last week, the union representing workers at The Telegram confirmed that four of the paper's 13 newsroom positions will be eliminated."

More reading: source 1, source 2

All of the news-related billboards or square images I've made so far. As some have pointed out, the 70% refers to print media; if someone wants a version of that one that has this as a small footnote, I can add it, just let me know. Feel free to use these.

"Sources say newspaper publisher Postmedia Network Corp. is laying off 11 per cent of its editorial staff, less than a week after workers were told the company was grappling with "economic contraction.''

Postmedia, which owns publications including the National Post, Vancouver Sun and Calgary Herald and employs about 650 journalists, announced the layoffs at a town hall Tuesday afternoon.

In an audio recording of the meeting obtained by The Canadian Press, Gerry Nott, acting senior vice-president of editorial content, said the cuts would affect all of the company's publications with the exception of Brunswick News and Postmedia Editorial Services, which have already been downsized."

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OUT OF MEMORY 10

tranfered Canon CMYK pigment, acrylic painting on linen, 2016

120 x 90cm

postmedia’s vulture-capitalist owners continue their strategy of strangling the profit out of canadian media

Some 20 jobs have been cut at TV stations and newspapers in northern Ontario in recent weeks.

According to the unions representing workers, at least 10 people at Postmedia newspapers in the northeast have been laid off or taken buyouts and another 10 have taken buyouts at CTV Northern Ontario.

Postmedia and Bell Media, the parent company of CTV, would only confirm that some employees in the region have taken buyouts.

Martin O'Hanlon, the national president of the CWA Canada union, said six jobs are being cut at the North Bay Nugget, three at the Sudbury Star and at least one at the Sault Star.

He said there likely could also be positions shed at some of the Postmedia papers in the northeast that don't have union representation and he said his members are also bracing for more possible layoffs.

"Getting information out of Postmedia is like pulling teeth. We still expect there could be more layoffs at other papers, but we just don't know. And to be honest with you, I don't think they know 100 per cent," he said.

O'Hanlon said while the job loss numbers are small compared to other industries, the cutting of journalists can have a big impact on a community.