Port Hope office

Job losses at Sun Media are threatening the future of the historic 1800s Evening Guide newspaper office on Walton Street in Port Hope, says Northumberland Today.

"The (Walton Street) office will be closed to the public while we re-evaluate our presence on the main street of Port Hope," says Gordon Brewerton, publisher of Northumberland Publishers, which publishes the Cobourg Daily Star, Port Hope Evening Guide, Colborne Chronicle, GO! Magazine and seven specialty magazines.

The story by Joyce Cassin says two editorial staff and one Port Hope office staff member were among Tuesday's casualties. No names were available.

TSF wishes the Walton Street newspaper office a future. It has character and speaks to more than a century of print media publishing in Port Hope.

If closed, maybe we can talk Farley Mowat et al to revive The Town Crier, a free publication published on various occasions to speak to community issues and, for a spell, to protest Conrad Black's ownership of the Evening Guide.

The Evening Guide, later sold to Osprey Media, fell into Sun Media's hands in 2007.

Speaking of the Cobourg/Port Hope Sun Media papers, we're hoping Pete Fisher's job is secure for years to come. His dramatic front page baby rescue photo in Thursday's Sun is yet another award winner for the tireless reporter/photographer.

Classic tabloid fare.

Nugget's voice

This is how you speak for employees, advertisers, readers and your newspaper when hit with layoffs.

It is not whether you agree or disagree with the viewpoint, it is the freedom to speak your mind.

Posted online Thursday and written by Dave Dale, an award-winning op-ed columnist at the North Bay Nugget, one of the Osprey Media newspapers purchased by Sun Media last year:

"Christmas has never been my favourite time of year. As a reality-based soul who prefers to keep expectations low, a scheduled season for mirth and good will usually leads to disappointment.

The religious overtones don't make it easier for me to embrace. This week, the Sun Media newspaper chain owned by Quebecor cut its workforce by 10 per cent.

The Nugget lost six workers as part of the process that left 600 of our Sun Media colleagues without employment almost a week before Christmas. They joined hundreds of thousands of people in North America suddenly seeking new jobs this year as the collateral damage of a financial meltdown spreads closer to home.

Auto plants across the continent have run out of gas. Mining sector companies are folding up like cheap lawnchairs.

Lumber mills and manufacturing plants were idled when experts were still debating if the bad times were here for real.

Quebecor, like other media outlets, said it made the cuts as an adaptation to global economic challenges and an evolving news industry.

In a nutshell, advertisers are cutting expenses and readers are demanding instant online information as traditional paper products become more expensive to print.

Such a chilling economic reality reported day after day leaves a person numb and desensitized to the human impact.

Personally, I felt hardened and immune to the trauma of a sudden job loss.

Practicality and a rational mind can fool someone like me into thinking they are prepared for every situation.

The delusion evaporated Tuesday when, as the North Bay Newspaper Guild president, I sat with my colleagues as they were informed of their job loss.

Some of them had been here for decades and weathered major changes before, but the shock reflected in their eyes will never leave me.

The Nugget, celebrating a century of serving local readers and business, has changed hands several times in a dozen years, going from Southam to Hollinger to Osprey to Quebecor ownership since 1996.

Job losses are not new and this latest downsizing was not a complete surprise. Anybody with a passing interest in world affairs would have seen the writing on the wall.

Interesting debates were held among some staff members if it would happen before Christmas or after the New Year.

I'm told Quebecor and Sun Media brass also pondered the best time frame, but layoffs are ultimately about saving money.

Is it better to wait until after the season of hope and good cheer or inform people of their reality before going too far into debt on extra gifts?

Should they end the worry and speculation all staff would carry into the holiday or allow the people who are getting laid off to carry some sense of optimism into the New Year?

It may not sound very union-like of me, but I think they and other companies in similar situations chose the lesser of two evils.

A realist like me prefers to know things up front and not be left hanging on a cliff of doubt.

And while this Christmas will certainly be hard on the individuals and their families impacted by the layoffs, there may be time to rein in spending and put their mind to future opportunities.

I know at least one who is already combing through our classifieds for job prospects.

Which brings me to the crux of the issue, for the people who have paid to read today's newspaper or online edition, for those who are using our advertisements to guide your shopping, we thank you.

The money spent on local products like ours helps keep your family informed and your neighbours employed.

Best wishes for a better 2009."

Best wishes to you, Dave Dale and staff.

Toronto Sun co-founders Doug, Peter and Don and the rest of the Day Oners who launched the Sun in 1971 would salute your editorial and your right to publish it.

A reader speaks

Not heard from in the days following the axing of 600 Sun Media employees are the readers.

It's not likely Toronto Sun readers will have the opportunity to lament the departures of almost 50 employees, including high profile staffers like Linda Leatherdale and Jane Stevenson.

We don't see the Sun publishing letters to the editor or allowing online forum comments when it devoted a mere two paragraphs to the story.

So we've borrowed one of the many comments posted on a Globe and Mail forum, one of 41 posted in reaction to the layoff story.

We are confident it echoes the sentiments of longtime faithful Toronto Sun readers.

The comment, from Walter Reducka, readers, in part:

"I have seen Sun Media papers (the Suns) deteriorate steadily since Quebecor took over the chain. What a shame! They used to be really good little papers. But it seems 'journalism' ceased to be a criteria for their existence . . .

"So I keep hoping that someday (soon) someone who really cares and takes pride in providing Canadians with decent journalism will buy out the Suns. Maybe then 'The Little Paper That Grew' can start to grow again - but in a meaningful way for READERS, too!"

Brioux's regards

Former Toronto Sun TV writer Bill Brioux, one of the many talented staffers axed by Quebecor in previous cutbacks, offers condolences to the latest casualties on his TV Feeds My Family blog.

"A chilling 49 folks lost their livelihood right before Christmas at the Toronto Sun, including many former friends and colleagues," says Brioux.

"You can only shake your head when you read that endless list of names and think of all the families affected. How the hell do you cut six jobs at the North Bay Nugget, or 13 in St. Catharines, or 11 in Peterborough, without gutting a newspaper?"

You know the collective heart of the Toronto Sun Family remains strong when former casualties take the time to offer support years after their own layoffs and firings.

Quebecor has been gutting the Toronto Sun - and sister papers - for almost 10 years, but time hasn't diminished the compassion former Sun staffers have for colleagues still on the job.

You hope for better days, a new owner, a Christmas miracle, a PKP change of heart and strategy, but getting back to reality . . .

There was renewed optimism for better days while Michael Sifton was Sun Media chief for just over a year. The optimism plummeted when PKP took control of Sun Media and Canoe six weeks ago.

And rightly so.

Nat. editorials?

National editorials four to five times a week, packaged with editorial cartoons, for editors across the Sun Media chain to cut and paste?

That's the word today from a Sun Media insider.

Just when the Toronto Sun was in a most comfortable groove with a balance of anonymous editorials representing the voice of the newspaper and signed Point of Views.

Says the insider in an e-mail to TSF:

"As an update, we got word today that Sun Media is going to start doing national editorials four to five times a week. Come February, they will supply a template with the editorial and the cartoon, leaving room for local letters to the editor.

"This is going to drive a stake into the heart of the local coverage of so many of the small community papers Sun Media owns, and is counter to its claims that it will preserve local content.

"We've been told we will be allowed to maybe use two local editorials a week. This will negatively impact the local voice of the papers in their communities and reduce the diversity of opinion in our country."

What say you Rob Granatstein, editor of the Toronto Sun, Lorrie Goldstein, associate editor, and Peter Worthington, founding editor and co-founder of the Sun?

Does that predominately national voice sit well with you?

Spiked tributes?

One of today's posted comments reads:

"Words HAVE been written about the cutbacks and the lost colleagues - and those words have been spiked. So tone it back a bit - people are trying, but they do work for Quebecor. Remember who the villain is here and don't attack those left behind."

Send us the spiked words and we'll unspike them on TSF.

It is the Sun Media business story of the year and two pathetic paragraphs in the print edition of the Toronto Sun is not the editorial decision making worthy of the tabloid.

Read the Shame, shame comment from one of the 2001 cutback victims and compare the coverage of those job losses to Wednesday's insulting business brief.

For fair and balanced reporting on the loss of 600 Sun Media jobs, take a look at:

Grant Robertson's Globe and Mail story and the 41 comments;

Brett Popplewell's Toronto Star story;

Grant Surridge's story in the Financial Post and National Post.

Cowering in the shadows of Quebecor diminishes the Toronto Sun's credibility and its image as a feisty newspaper willing to speak its mind when the need arises.

Cuts updates

Now that the dust is settling and the full impact at Sun Media newspapers is more in focus, TSF invites updates, corrections and clarifications on the cutbacks. E-mail us.

Re the Niagara Falls Review: "The Review lost the equivalent of seven full-time jobs Tuesday, including three in the newsroom. Two fine editors were let go, as was a talented young writer named Marc Kilchling who started barely a month ago. It's simply a scramble to physically put out a paper at this point. It is especially tough because the Review's newsroom has fought its way back to respectability these past two years, and Tuesday stuck a dagger through all that hard work. It's a numb, defeated feeling. Not just for our paper, but for our industry."

Re the Peterborough Examiner: "We weren't given final numbers, but it's more than 11. Morale is horrible, but we are soldering on. We lost two very talented reporters: James Neeley – who had developed strong contacts and loved to chase big stories – and Laura Mueller – a new journalist who only started in the fall and showed great promise. We lost two very talented editors, who were not only great designers but also mentors and our friends: Bill Hodgins and Kennedy Gordon. We really miss them and the paper won't be the same."

Re the Edmonton Sun: "They've got us running scared here just like everywhere else. Just wanted to give you a heads up on the situation here. For starters, Dru Warwick didn't get the axe, but his wife (Cheryl) did. Reports are unclear as yet, but it seems the worst hit was taken by the classified department. The number circulating here is 21 positions lost company wide. There are rumours that profit sharing bonuses have been cut as well and that a wage freeze is now in effect."

Also re Edmonton: "Kathy Murrie got the axe. She was a long-time rim worker who was one of the organizers of last year's failed union drive."

Re the Toronto Sun: Others in the ad sales department: Laura Murphy, Help Wanted advertising sales rep; Maria Grey, Help Wanted coordinator; Andrew, automotive coordinator; Rick Payne, creative; Kathleen Hillier, retail advertising sales rep.

Blog watch

Updated 23/12/08 re Reddit forum comments

While TSF set another hits record Wednesday, with more than 1,800 by midnight, other blogs and forums have been busy reacting to Sun Media's buzz saw.

Here are a few sites:

Reddit: This site has a page of comments about the Toronto Sun and other Toronto dailies.

Media Watch: Chicago-based blog by journalist Craig Kanalley, who writes "It's so sad to see the newspaper industry come to all of this, and I feel deeply for all Canadians affected by these cuts."

News Photographers Association of Canada forum: A popular haunt for photogs, including current and former Sun staffers. Dave Chidley writes, in part: "It was 25 months ago that the last wave of Quebecor cuts sent me to my freedom. All I can say to the colleagues who are now being shown the door, is take a deep breath and realize that you now have an opportunity. An opportunity to do those things you never had time for. To make the changes you never had the courage to take the leap and try. Or just the opportunity to evaluate what is important in life and live a little."

At Home in Hespeler: An Ontario site with some interesting comments but it seems to be confusing PKP's resignation from the board of the troubled Quebecor World with his control of Quebecor Media. What can we say about Inc., World and Media other than confusing?

Notes From a Teacher: Mark Hamilton, a U.S.-based journalism teacher, keeps tabs on North American newspapers and says: "The idea that Canadian newspapers would weather the financial storm better than their southern neighbour appears to be crumbling."

The Cairns Blog: Canadian blogger John Cairns writes: "And in the world of newspapers here in Canada, Sun Media proved that they are also a completely heartless and classless bunch by having a big 600-person bloodbath just in time for Christmas."

Sky is falling?

In the wake of Sun Media's hatchet job on Tuesday, former Toronto Sun vet Maryanna Lewyckyj, a victim of one of the 2007 cutbacks, took a look at Quebecor's books.

She writes:

"Given the recent bloodbath at Sun Media, I decided to check Quebecor's third-quarter results to see how badly the newspaper division had fared in the first nine months of the year.

Here are the figures:

Nine-month newspaper revenue was $845.7 million, up from $721.6 million in the first nine months of 2007 (17% increase).

Nine-month operating profit was $170.5 million, up from $149.3 million in the first nine months of 2007 (14.2% increase).

By contrast, here are the Internet/Portals figures: Nine-month revenue was $38.3 million, up from $34.6 million in the first nine months of 2007 (10.7% increase)

Nine-month operating profit was $1.8 million, down from $4.1 million in the first nine months of 2007 (decrease of 56%).

To put things in perspective, the operating profit of the Internet/Portals division equalled 1% of the operating profit of the newspaper division.

For a supposedly dying industry, the newspaper division is doing a lot more heavy lifting on the balance sheet than the online "platform."

Thanks for the input, Maryanna.

Sun Media -CP?

Several sources say Sun Media will drop out of the Canadian Press wire services next year, no doubt to save more bucks at the expense of readers.

It wouldn't be the first time Sun tabloids dropped CP. The Sun dabbled with its own United Press Services in the 1980s during a short-lived wire services run.

Filling print and online Sun Media editions with content primarily from sister newspapers will cut costs, but it will lessen the diversity and quality of news content.

Major stories in communities with skeletal Sun Media newsrooms won't provide readers with the balanced reporting they are due.

"Can't understand them cutting newsroom positions if they intend to drop CP next year," says a TSF reader.

But then news coverage isn't a priority at Quebecor.