Updated: Layoffs and voluntary buyout program announced at Postmedia
Postmedia lays off national network reporters but will continue to operate Canada.com.
By Chantal Braganza, Associate Editor
In an ongoing bid to cut costs, Postmedia has laid off a number of national reporters from its news network and announced the launch of a voluntary buyout program at three of its newspapers.
Postmedia communications vice-president Phyllise Gelfand declined to disclose the number of layoffs, but confirmed they are part of an initiative to consolidate national reporting out of Toronto. “We still have national reporters filing stories from the network, but now at the National Post—or from wherever the news happens.”
“It’s an extension of a number of cost-cutting initiatives we’ve undertaken,” Gelfand said. In February 2014, Postmedia laid off members of its Parliament Hill bureau and consolidated part of its political reporting team with The Ottawa Citizen. Two years prior, the company cut 25 jobs in the closure of its Ottawa-based wire service. Canada.com, the company’s national online property, will remain operational and continue to publish.
The voluntary buyout program, also announced today, has been offered at The Windsor Star, The Montreal Gazette and Ottawa Citizen. Applications are due Feb. 19.
Update: A few national Postmedia staff have posted publicly about being laid off from the news service. These include:
– Katherine Monk, Postmedia’s national film critic.
– National Post online editor Jason Rehel.
– Science writer Margret Munro.
– Consumer trends, social science and demographics reporter Misty Harris.
– Television columnist Alex Strachan.
– Sports editor John Dujay.
