Ed Arnold, managing editor of Sun Media's Peterborough Examiner, says changes, there have been a few, but people who say his paper is folding are drug prone.
He posted the following online:
WILD ONE
Wow. Being in the news business for 38 years I have heard almost every rumour imaginable, but the latest one about The Examiner closing is a dandy obviously being spread by delirious people.
The next time someone tells you The Examiner is closing or none of its work is being done here ask them what drugs they are on. Then ask the person spreading this garbage for the names of their sources because someone should call the police to search for hallucinogenic drugs.
Maybe some information will help. We moved the printing to our company's plant in Islington in July. It is a modern facility that allows crisper, better printing and allows us to use colour photos and advertising on every page for the first time in The Examiner's history. It's not the first time we have been printed elsewhere; we were once printed in Belleville.
The printing plant does not lay out the pages, or write the headlines, or gather photos or edit any of the local news or sports. That is all done here as it has been done since 1847.
We have changed our look, even Pepsi does that occasionally, and we share news pages throughout the company's newspapers. Many of Peterborough's stories and photos now appear throughout Canada in newspapers owned by our company. We have their resources available and they have ours.
Some readers don't like our new format, others do. That's the nature of change.
We have reduced and cut some expenses and we have lost some valuable, hard-working employees.
Business people make business decisions to help the bottom line. That's what has happened here. In case these rumour mongers haven't noticed, the economy, while starting to pick up, hasn't been the greatest throughout the world, and change has become constant in most businesses.
The Examiner is not leaving town as others might hope.
We continue to give our readers more news about Peterborough and area than any media outlet, any organization, any company in the world, and we will continue to do this as well as making sure a diverse range of opinions are read for lively debate to continue in the local paper.
Another rumour is The Toronto Sun owns The Examiner. The Examiner is not owned by The Toronto Sun.
Quebecor Inc. owns this paper as well as The Toronto Sun,as well as newspapers in Ottawa, London, Belleville, Barrie, Brantford and dozens of other cities across Canada who all share their resources.
We may move from The Kingsway in the future because our present facility, without the press, may be too big for us, but it won't be out of Peterborough.
We are still your daily newspaper which also offers a website full of breaking local news, photographs, videos and advertising. And we still keep watch over government decisions and spending.
Our priority is, and will always be, local news.
This isn't about to change.
The next time someone tells you The Examiner is closing or none of its work is being done here ask them what drugs they are on. Then ask the person spreading this garbage for the names of their sources because someone should call the police to search for hallucinogenic drugs.
Maybe some information will help. We moved the printing to our company's plant in Islington in July. It is a modern facility that allows crisper, better printing and allows us to use colour photos and advertising on every page for the first time in The Examiner's history. It's not the first time we have been printed elsewhere; we were once printed in Belleville.
The printing plant does not lay out the pages, or write the headlines, or gather photos or edit any of the local news or sports. That is all done here as it has been done since 1847.
We have changed our look, even Pepsi does that occasionally, and we share news pages throughout the company's newspapers. Many of Peterborough's stories and photos now appear throughout Canada in newspapers owned by our company. We have their resources available and they have ours.
Some readers don't like our new format, others do. That's the nature of change.
We have reduced and cut some expenses and we have lost some valuable, hard-working employees.
Business people make business decisions to help the bottom line. That's what has happened here. In case these rumour mongers haven't noticed, the economy, while starting to pick up, hasn't been the greatest throughout the world, and change has become constant in most businesses.
The Examiner is not leaving town as others might hope.
We continue to give our readers more news about Peterborough and area than any media outlet, any organization, any company in the world, and we will continue to do this as well as making sure a diverse range of opinions are read for lively debate to continue in the local paper.
Another rumour is The Toronto Sun owns The Examiner. The Examiner is not owned by The Toronto Sun.
Quebecor Inc. owns this paper as well as The Toronto Sun,as well as newspapers in Ottawa, London, Belleville, Barrie, Brantford and dozens of other cities across Canada who all share their resources.
We may move from The Kingsway in the future because our present facility, without the press, may be too big for us, but it won't be out of Peterborough.
We are still your daily newspaper which also offers a website full of breaking local news, photographs, videos and advertising. And we still keep watch over government decisions and spending.
Our priority is, and will always be, local news.
This isn't about to change.
So the next time you hear someone saying The Examiner is closing, ask for their sources and then ask if they need medical attention for their drug use.
Calling people drug addicts for lamenting the demise of a local newspaper hardly helps with the credibility, Mr. Arnold.
ReplyDeleteThere's a few too many references to drug use in his reply for my liking.
ReplyDeleteThe paper's likely doomed. ~ Butch McLarty, http://www.altlondon.org
Sounds like propaganda of the highest form. The Examiner may not be moving out of Peterborough, but if it's following the same route and the Barrie Examiner, the readers should feel shortchanged.
ReplyDeleteAs I have said before, the Barrie Examiner runs more Toronto Sun copy than ever. I have always believed that the local paper should, as much as possible, have a local photo and story on the front page. I worked for a Thomson paper years ago, in Brampton, and that was a goal we always tried to hit.
The Barrie paper ran a good photo from the "chain" by Peterborough photographer, Clifford Skarstedt, but at least it was of a Barrie resident, a reasonable compromise.
True, the rumours of being shut down are always rampant, but the track record of the corporation is not good when it comes to dealing with local newspapers.
Bill Sandford
Hi TSF. I have been with the same branch for 35 years and we all held the same sentiments as Ed.
ReplyDeleteQMI has drawn and quartered this publication and it's commercial printing division since last November. Daily printing to Islington, layout to Woodstock, circulation to Ottawa, payroll to Markham, editorial content reduced and it is happening to all the branches of the once proud Bowes Publishers family of community and daily newspapers. I agree, when you are majority shareholder you control most of the marbles so you call the shots in the name of sustainability, but at what cost. You may want to read Sir Richard Branson's book about the creation of the Virgin brand and what he says about how he values people in the corporate world. Believe me Ed the rumors here were not drug related. They all came true and then some.
Who does the boss think he's snowing? The door has been closed on so many jobs since Sifton was pushed out....classified, circulation, reporters, editors, business office, mailroom, composing, etc. Losing our five guys in the pressroom isn't why they're selling the building. It's PKP squeezing more money by moving work to Centres of Cheap Wages. Ed must be on some good drugs himself if he doesn't feel the sucking death spiral.
ReplyDeleteNice profesional approach there Mr. Arnold. How can readers not ask questions when the paper has been gutted the past year and reduced in size?
ReplyDeleteWhatever you're smoking Ed, I don't want to try any.
Hilarious that he would compare the newspaper to Pepsi.
ReplyDeleteSure Pepsi might change its look now and then, but the product itself stay the same. Whatever is on the can doesn't impact how the product tastes.
The Examiner, and the other former Osprey papers, changed their look, too with the redesign which many readers absolutely hate. H
However, the paper's content has also been drastically reduced thanks to staffing cuts so coverage has suffered. The Examiner now is 16 pages Monday to Thursday instead of the usual 24.
As a result, the product itself has changed. Huge difference and a poor comparison to Pepsi.
Not so sure I like the use of drugs to illustrate what his readers are talking about. It lacks class when you suggest somebody is on drugs. Not so sure the writer understands that. Business decisions get made all the time -- we understand that, but to try to candy coat the closing of a printing plant as just another day at the office makes we wonder if this guy understands what is happening.
ReplyDeleteYou tell 'em Eddie!
ReplyDeleteThough, I must admit, I haven't read the paper since I was laid off a month ago...
Clear Pepsi is different than regular Pepsi.
ReplyDeleteCan't blame Ed Arnold for his anxiety.
ReplyDeleteIt's only a matter of time before Sun Media centralizes managing editors too.
Ed Arnold believes he is famous in his field for writing hockey books. Perhaps it's time to close his door again and write another book. Reading the writing on the wall isn't his forte.
ReplyDeleteThe bizarre nature of the content aside - what's with the fixation on "drugs" and questioning the mental faculties of anyone noticing the painfully obvious slide in quality - the writing was absolutely brutal. Did he, in his haste, forget to edit himself?
ReplyDeleteThere will ALWAYS be a Peterborough Sun newspaper
ReplyDeleteThis goes beyond propaganda - this is flat out lying to readers. It's dishonest to say "The printing plant does not lay out the pages, or write the headlines, or gather photos or edit any of the local news or sports. That is all done here as it has been done since 1847." Sun Family readers know that is not the case any longer. PDFs are shipped in, slapped on and shipped out, disguised as local product. This is a shameful, badly-written PR hack job.
ReplyDeleteWell for local content, it's still all designed here, so in essence he's right on that part. How much longer that lasts, who knows.
ReplyDeleteIs Mr. Arnold feeling "anxiety" or is he one of these managing editors who think they are stressed when they truly don't know the meaning of the word? Is he one of these managing editors who complains of too much work despite the fact he doesn't work weekends and fills his paper with crap from the Sun Media library?
ReplyDeleteAt any rate, using the drug references shows a complete lack of class and maybe even ability. Good job, Ed!
Here's some proof of the effectiveness of the Toronto Sun Family blog.........Ed Arnold assigned another editor to edit his column every week before it runs........a first time for everything
ReplyDelete