Friday 20 March 2015

Spring 2015 open forum

What will become of the remnants of Sun Media in 2015? There is apprehension in the air as spring begins and we await a decision on the purchase bid by PM. 

21 comments:

  1. pm is buying it so will be no remnants, just layoffs and the papers will run as they always do

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  2. It's nothing to do with the sale, but who doesn't love to read about PKP falling on his face?

    www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/03/20/pq-blind-spot-keeps-pierre-karl-pladeau-the-party-favourite-hbert.html?referrer=http%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2FfHHNsiMYbt

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  3. Looks like a decision has been made...
    http://www.stthomastimesjournal.com/2015/03/25/competition-bureau-wont-challenge-sun-media-sale-to-postmedia

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  4. Sale to PM goes ahead:

    https://twitter.com/nataliealcoba/status/580726880577310720

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  5. Let the bloodletting begin.

    http://www.ctvnews.ca/business/competition-bureau-approves-postmedia-deal-to-buy-sun-media-newspapers-1.2296436

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  6. so apparently the competition bureau cares little for competition in the marketplace. Whoever said rubber stamp hit it on the head.

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  7. And what a prolonged rubber stamp. Five months for... a foregone conclusion. There are a few more weeks to go before everything is signed and sealed. It will be interesting to see when the first wave of changes/layoffs/integration strategies is announced.

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    1. Our tax dollars at work, what a farce this is. Wait till the closures and layoffs start, they'll be able to say "we didn't see that coming" Wonder where PM has it's call centre for circulation? or where do they have ads made up? anyone know?

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  8. This hit the news wire yesterday.

    http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/1506773/sun-media-employees-want-union

    So non-union Toronto Sun employees are trying to join the union now? What a pointless exercise. If your jobs are relocated to somewhere else or they are eliminated in the wake of this merger, being part of the union isn't going to save you. You are better to go back to school and study a career with a sustainable future. Bite the bullet now rather than cling to a cliff for another year or two.

    New young junior union members, however, would be desirable to 1) the union bosses because it increases union dues and 2) the old-timers, because the more newcomers there are, the more of a cushion it is for those senior workers who should have been packaged out of that newsroom a decade ago.


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  9. A little late maybe folks? I think about how anyone non-union sat back and waited for a raise...now that there hasn't been one in a couple years they are concerned? A little late folks. Oh people rough waters ahead. Do you think for a minute that PM hasn't been working on a plan since they approached Stun Media to purchase. Site sold to Torstar or another company with a press (wait no body has those anymore, print is dead), closed outright. Not going to be an easy summer vacation time this year.

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  10. What a load of crap. It's to protect what little they have. If you understood seniority you'd understand that it is based on years and category. This has little to do with dues and building cushions. Stop stirring the pot to the right.

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  11. I agree. Worked at both union and non-union shops. Time for the people that produce the products, take the pics, write the stories and deliver the papers to get a raise once in a while, not at the whim of 333 that tells them things are so bad they can't afford it. Stop screwing with products that work(ed) and deal with the ones that do not. The union fights for what is right. Agree or disagree with a union, the union members are getting increases, small but an increase none the less, how much did the non-union people get these past few years...zero increase. If times were as tough as they project why are so many newspapers still open? Many jobs have been moved from one plant to another, many more jobs just filtered away to either India or the Caribbean. If you sit and take it they will certainly take it from you. Time to at least look into a union for ALL remaining staff members...before YOU are on the outside looking in. If you are interested in what other union papers pay their union staff members, google the union site and take a look at the contracts that are out there today, then make a choice, more money (maybe) dignity for asking (definitely). Best of luck to all, do what is best for you!

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  12. i guess the postmedia quebecor deal went from 175 papers to 173 i read that one community paper has since shut down and that two fort macmurray papers have consolidated, anyone know which weekly has shut down, wonder if more weeklies are on their way out

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  13. I know of at least one that should have been shuttered a couple of years ago. This was always a problem for Stun Media, manipulated the papers that made money and left some of the others to dwindle and die a slow deliberate death. I doubt PM will have the same stomach for such foolishness.

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  14. If their criteria is that a newspaper make money...oh oh we're in trouble.

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  15. The talk of selling buildings and outsourcing print doesn't look good.

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    1. Looking for money...How many buildings do they still have to sell? They have to outsource printing aside from London and Toronto, no Sun Media presses.

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  16. How many presses will they have? London,Islington,Windsor...how many others? I know our paper is already later due to production issues, thus circulation falls, thus ad and circ revenue declines. Having a press in your own market had its merit back in the day.

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  17. overheard some people talking. Friday is the day that the sale is finalized. Hold on to your hats...

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  18. Welcome to the family...there's the door. Loyal audiences, where do they get this from? Anyone see the latest circulation numbers? Post Media is trying to put lipstick on a pig...it's still a pig but looks pretty.

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