Updated: Sun Media cuts 200 jobs
Sun Media announced it will cut approximately 200 positions across the company, of which one quarter will come from editorial. These latest cuts follow another 360 job losses earlier this year, in addition to the closure of eight publications and three free dailies.
By Tamara Baluja
Sun Media announced it will cut approximately 200 positions across the company, of which one quarter will come from editorial.
“It is very tough to announce job cuts,” said Julie Tremblay, president and CEO of Sun Media Corp. in a statement released by its parent company Quebecor on Wednesday. “But as distressing as they are for the employees involved, these restructuring initiatives are necessary to maintain our leading position and ensure the Corporation’s sustainability.”
These cuts are the latest in a series of restructuring initiatives the company has undergone in the past two years due to “unprecedented changes in the print media industry driven largely by the digital revolution.” In July, Sun Media cut another 360 jobs, closed eight publications and three free dailies, and in 2012, it slashed another 500 jobs, closed production facilities in Ottawa and Kingston and implemented paywalls on the websites of its major publications.
Martin Tremblay, vice-president of public affairs at Quebecor, told J-Source that these latest cuts will bring Sun Media’s total workforce to 3,800 of which roughly 1,000 are journalism/editorial positions. In 2012, Sun Media had close to 5,000 employees.
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“We want to keep on as many employees as possible … we didn’t make this decision lightly,” Tremblay said. “But the industry is changing rapidly and we have to think about being successful and profitable in the long-term.”
Gino Donato, a photojournalist at the Sudbury Star, tweeted that the newspaper will lay off two editorial positions and one in advertising.
Meanwhile, Peterborough Examiner managing editor Jim Hendry has announced he will retire at the end of the month after 30 years at the paper. City editor Kennedy Gordon will be promoted to managing editor. Examiner reporter Brendan Wedley has also resigned as of the end of the year to take another job in Peterborough, according to a note posted on the newspaper’s website.
“The two departures mean The Examiner will not have to lay off any newsroom staff as part of a corporate reorganization announced Wednesday by Sun Media Corporation,” the newspaper said in a statement.
If you know of other departures as a result of these announced Sun Media layoffs, please email tbaluja@j-source.ca.
Tamara Baluja is an award-winning journalist with CBC Vancouver and the 2018 Michener-Deacon fellow for journalism education. She was the associate editor for J-Source from 2013-2014.