Sun Media continues death by 1,000 cuts, abandoning quality jobs and journalism

Posted on by

Death by a thousand cuts continues apace at Sun Media, which today announced it is shuttering 11 titles and axing 360 jobs.

CWA Canada, which represents workers at several Sun Media newspapers, urged the company in a news release to reverse its self-destructive plan and to instead focus on quality local jobs and journalism to boost profits.

Director Martin O’Hanlon said Quebecor-owned Sun Media, which last November cut 500 jobs and closed production plants in Ottawa and Kingston, is pursuing a slash-and-burn strategy that will only lead to a slow death.

In her note to employees today, in a spectacular example of doublespeak, Sun Media COO Julie Tremblay trumpets that Sun Media will “continue to focus on great journalism.”

“And how will they do that?” asks O’Hanlon. “By laying off journalists!”

“I’m still waiting for someone to show me how you produce better journalism with fewer journalists. To suggest it’s possible is either delusional or dishonest — neither bodes well for Sun Media’s fortunes.”

__________________________________________________________

2013.03.18|  Departing Quebecor chief leaves ‘sorry legacy’ of gutted newspapers

2012.11.13|  Sun Media’s cuts, closures a ‘major blow’ to Kingston Local

2011.11.29|  Quebecor’s Sun Media eliminating 400 jobs

2008.12.16|  Union deplores Quebecor’s massive job cuts

_________________________________________________________

O’Hanlon maintains that cutting jobs is a suicidal strategy that only hurts quality and does nothing to attract readers or generate revenue.

He notes Quebecor talks a good story about its commitment to the communities it serves, but everything it does — from cutting local jobs to producing sub-standard local news — is bad for those communities.

Five CWA Canada members (of Local 30248 – Peterborough) lost their jobs last month, when Sun Media shut down the 152-year-old Lindsay Daily Post. It is among the 11 closures announced today. A few more of the union’s members, reporters at other Sun Media papers, will see their jobs cut.

All of those members will have access to CWA Canada’s $500 training/education grant and whatever other support the union can provide.

Sun Media is to kill off its free 24 Hours newspapers in Ottawa, Calgary and Edmonton as well as community publications in Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. It describes the closures as “a series of initiatives to enhance operational efficiencies” and expects to save $55 million.

O’Hanlon once again suggested that Quebecor borrow a page from legendary investor Warren Buffett who is busy buying newspapers in the United States and committing to quality local journalism as the key to success.

 

Chicago Sun-Times lays off its photo staff

Posted on by

Source: my.chicagotribune.com

By Robert Channick, Tribune staff reporter

The Chicago Sun-Times has laid off its entire photography staff, and plans to use freelance photographers and reporters to shoot photos and video going forward, the newspaper said.

A total of 28 full-time staffers received the news Thursday morning at a meeting held at the Sun-Times offices in Chicago, according to sources familiar with the situation. The layoffs are effective immediately.

The newspaper released a statement suggesting the move reflected the increasing importance of video in news reporting:

“The Sun-Times business is changing rapidly and our audiences are consistently seeking more video content with their news. We have made great progress in meeting this demand and are focused on bolstering our reporting capabilities with video and other multimedia elements. The Chicago Sun-Times continues to evolve with our digitally savvy customers, and as a result, we have had to restructure the way we manage multimedia, including photography, across the network.”

read the entire story here

Winnipeg Free Press restricts online comments to subscribers in effort to reduce “digital diatribe”

Posted on by

Source: j-source.ca

The Winnipeg Free Press is restricting its online comments to print and online subscribers in an effort to keep “the e-party going without the party-crashers.”

The newspaper’s editor Paul Samyn said the new commenting policy designed to reduce the “digital diatribe” will go into effect on June 3.

“The thinking behind our policy change is the bulk of the ugliness that lands from time to time on our website comes from those abusing the “free” in Free Press to engage in gutter talk or worse on our no-cost forum,” he said. “There will no doubt be some who will accuse the Free Press of limiting their right to free speech, or complain that we’re not living up to the “free” in Free Press. They, of course, are entitled to their opinion, but, just for the record, there are no charter rights requiring us to have their voice heard at our water cooler.”

Follow this link to continue reading this story

Labour Reporting award winners expose injustice of unpaid internships

Posted on by

Source: CWA|SCA Canada

Three academics who documented the growing scourge of unpaid internships are this year’s winners of the Labour Reporting Award sponsored jointly by CWA Canada and the Canadian Association of Journalists.

Martin O’Hanlon, Director of CWA Canada, said Interns Unite! (You have nothing to lose — literally), published in November by the “fiercely independent” Briarpatch magazine, is an example of the quality, public-service journalism that is so sorely lacking in this country.

“This is a well-written, well-researched piece of journalism that tells an important story and exposes an injustice that is bad for society and bad for the economy: the exploitation of interns.

“As the country’s only all-media union, our focus is promoting and protecting quality jobs and quality journalism. That’s why we sponsor this award.”

Enda Brophy, Nicole Cohen and Greig de Peuter, who are collaborating on a research project on labour politics in the creative industries, were announced as the winners of the $1,000 prize at the CAJ’s annual conference held in Ottawa on the weekend.

The rampant growth of unpaid internships is a key issue for CWA Canada and its largest Local, the Canadian Media Guild (CMG), which represents a significant contingent of freelancers in this country. The CMG partnered with ACTRA and Ryerson’s Centre for Labour Management Relations to stage the Will Work for Exposure conference in October 2012 that addressed topics including wage theft, copyright and workers’ rights.

2012.10.29| Unpaid internships: A boon or a bane?

2012.10.24| Internships and the intersection of class struggle and opportunity

There were several CWA Canada members among the recipients of the 15 awards handed out at the CAJ gala. They include:

Glen McGregor (Ottawa Newspaper Guild) of The Ottawa Citizen who, along with Postmedia’s Stephen Maher, shared in the Open Newspaper / Wire Service category for “Dirty election tricks revealed.”

Gil Shochat, Alex Shprinsten, Joseph Loeiro (Canadian Media Guild) of the CBC News Investigative Unit, in the Open Television category for “Fatal Deception.”

Melissa Brousseau (Canadian Media Guild) of CBC North – Maamuitaau, in the Regional Television category for “Breaking the mold.”

Alison Motluk (Canadian Media Guild) of CBC Radio’s The Sunday Edition, in the Current Affairs category for “Wanted: Egg donor in good health.”

Jim Bronskill (Canadian Media Guild) of The Canadian Press, in the Scoop category for “Canada’s torture memos.”

Nahlah Ayed, Diane Grant (Canadian Media Guild) of CBC News – The National, won the JHR / CAJ Award for Human Rights Reporting for “Seeking safety.”

Postmedia drops publishers

Posted on by

Source: theglobeandmail.com

Postmedia Network Inc. is trying to stanch losses by eliminating the publisher position at its chain of 10 newspapers, which includes the National Post, the Montreal Gazette, and the Ottawa Citizen.

A staff memo issued Tuesday afternoon by Paul Godfrey, Postmedia’s president and chief executive officer, said the company’s business operations are being reorganized into three regions, with all editorial functions overseen by the senior vice-president of content, Lou Clancy.
Follow this link to read the entire story

Postmedia loss deepens

Posted on by

Source: theglobeandmail.com

Losses deepened at Postmedia Network Canada Corp. in the last quarter, as national and classified advertising in its newspapers continued to decline.

The publisher –which owns such big-city metros such as the Ottawa Citizen, Montreal Gazette and Calgary Herald in addition to the National Post – said it lost $14.2-million in its second quarter, compared with $11.1-million a year ago.

Click here to read the entire story

High School Grads – Apply for the Dreams of Jobs and Freedom Scholarship

Posted on by

gradUnion Privilege and the AFL-CIO have announced a new scholarship program to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington. The one-time, $5,000 scholarships are for study for the academic year beginning in the fall of 2013 through summer 2014. They will be awarded to at least 50 talented high school seniors to help pay for the costs of higher education.

On August 28, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., gave his “I Have a Dream” speech as part of that historic March on Washington. This scholarship program honors the legacy of Dr. King’s speech and his dream that all of America’s children could have equal access and equal opportunity.

An application, including an essay, is required. The application deadline is July 1, 2013. For more information and to apply online, click here