Postmedia moving majority of local content to A section in four newspapers

By H.G. Watson, Associate Editor Postmedia editors across Canada have announced plans to move most local coverage to the A section of the print editions in similar editors’ notes that ran in four newspapers on Monday. The move comes just as the Globe and Mail broke news that five Postmedia executives were paid $2.3 million…

By H.G. Watson, Associate Editor

Postmedia editors across Canada have announced plans to move most local coverage to the A section of the print editions in similar editors’ notes that ran in four newspapers on Monday.

The move comes just as the Globe and Mail broke news that five Postmedia executives were paid $2.3 million in retention bonuses, and as Postmedia papers across the country finalize a round of buyouts aimed at cutting 20 percent of salary costs.

The editor’s notes, published in the print editions of the Montreal Gazette, Ottawa Citizen, Calgary Herald, and Edmonton Journal on Nov. 21, all state that a majority of local coverage will be moved to the A section of the print newspapers from Monday to Friday, including arts, business and lifestyle coverage. “We’ll be sharing the best of Postmedia content from across the country in the other sections, so you will see more from our stable of award-winning national writers,” wrote Lucinda Chodan, editor-in-chief of the Gazette.

Some other sections of each paper will include local content on a few other days of the week.

Via @mastermaq—plans for a “refocused” Edmonton Journal, from yesterday’s paper https://t.co/Z5U7rUW8Uo pic.twitter.com/7wNPhIKtyN

— H.G. Watson (@HG_Watson) November 22, 2016

On Nov. 22, Mark Iype, editor of the Edmonton Journal and Edmonton Sun, also answered questions on Twitter and Facebook about what the changes would mean for readers.

@DonoYEG @edmontonjournal It does not mean we are abandoning arts coverage. But we need to be creative in how we cover #yegarts.

— Mark Iype (@mniype) November 22, 2016

@natsmith1 @edmontonjournal Unfortunately, more readers does not always equate to more revenue. That is the challenge we are facing.

— Mark Iype (@mniype) November 22, 2016

@bruchev @edmontonjournal We are not walking away from books coverage, as I have tried to reassure people. It just may not look the same.

— Mark Iype (@mniype) November 22, 2016

@OlavRokne @edmontonjournal There will be some standardization. But local business will now appear in the A-section.

— Mark Iype (@mniype) November 22, 2016

On Nov. 3, iPolitics reported that the Citizen would no longer employ freelancers at a meeting where management announced plans to put most local content into the A section.

Postmedia editorials about refocused A section by jsource2007 on Scribd

H.G. Watson can be reached at hgwatson@j-source.ca or on Twitter.