You’ve probably heard the news by now – more layoffs over at Postmedia, the company that publishes both the Calgary Herald and Calgary Sun, and employs close to 3,000 people across the country.
Compared to layoffs at other major companies, 90 jobs doesn’t really seem like much – but if you regularly read those publications or follow their writers on Twitter, you’ll undoubtedly recognize some names. A lot of really talented and unique writers cut loose amidst an uncertain time.
The 90 jobs also includes about eight per cent of the company’s editorial staff, which means one editor will handle duties for both the Herald and the Sun, while one other editor will handle the Edmonton Journal and Edmonton Sun.
With the advent of new media, it’s no secret that traditional newspapers have struggled to keep up with Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat and the dozen-odd other prominent social media networks that have changed the way we read and consume news.
It’s a little different for smaller community publications like the Rocky View Weekly, as readership hasn’t really been hit with the advent of the Internet – the sort of zeroed-in coverage a community newspaper focuses on isn’t made irrelevant by a multitude of other competing web sources.
But it’s been interesting to watch from the sidelines as the industry morphs and evolves and tries to figure out how to deal with a new media landscape.
You see it over at the Toronto Star – which recently ended its paywall in favour of a $14 million initiative to develop a tablet app.
That app, called “Star Touch,” follows an app with a $40 million price tag by Montreal-based newspaper La Presse, which by most accounts has been tremendously successful. According to the company, the app is utilized by more than 500,000 readers with an average browse time of 40 minutes on weekdays. Not bad.
No one really knows which strategy will pay off in the end. Is the future of news on iPhones and Androids? It’s hard to say.
One thing is for sure – there’s already a huge void left in the communities of Calgary and Edmonton with the loss of local voices from those publications.
Corporations can try and consolidate all they want, but there’s no replacement for local voices advocating for a community they know intimately. No one writing remotely can get an accurate sense of what’s happening locally.
So best of luck to those journalists now out of work. It’s an interesting time in the news business. Let’s hope new strategies pay off and we can return to a landscape of unique local voices embedded in our communities.
