The newspaper retrenchment in Canada has taken another turn with the announcement that one of the country’s biggest-selling titles, the Toronto Star, is to cut 45 newsroom jobs.
In addition, seven other posts will go, according to a Torstar Corp spokesman, Bob Hepburn, quoted by the Globe & Mail. The cuts include 26 temporary positions on the Star’s tablet edition. Among the permanent staff being laid off are 10 reporters and five editors.
Hepburn said: “The moves are in response to declining advertising and our need to allocate the company’s resources as cost-effectively as possible.”
A memo to staff issued by Torstar’s chief executive, David Holland - as reproduced by CanadaLand - put a positive spin on the cutbacks.
Conceding that the group “is facing an unprecedented pace of change” and the need “to undertake a range of cost-reduction initiatives”, he wrote:
“These changes are another important step in the Star’s strategic evolution along a path towards the multi-platform news media organisation of the future. Along with these staff reductions, the Star newsroom is also evolving its structure to place greater emphasis on key content areas such as breaking news, investigations and special projects.”
It appears that the initial surge of interest in the paper’s tablet edition, known as Star Touch, has reached a plateau.
Torstar lost $23.9m (£14m) in the first quarter of 2016, partly because of costs relating to the closure of a printing plant. Its dividend was also cut for the second time this year.
Sources: Globe & Mail/CanadaLand
