About 30 per cent of newsroom jobs have been cut at a 145-year-old daily newspaper in St. John’s, N.L., following a takeover by Postmedia.
Keith Gosse, head of the union representing workers at The Telegram, says staff learned Wednesday that four of the paper’s 13 newsroom positions will be eliminated.
As well, Saturday will be the paper’s last daily print edition, as it is moving to a weekly print version beginning next week with daily news online.
Gosse says there were more than 40 people working in the newsroom when he first started at The Telegram in 1986.
Postmedia’s takeover of The Telegram is part of its acquisition of the insolvent SaltWire Network Inc. and the Halifax Herald Ltd., which together formed Atlantic Canada’s largest newspaper chain.
The Toronto-based media company, which owns the National Post and many other properties, chose not to buy The Telegram’s printing plant in St. John’s, leaving its future in doubt.
“With no buyer to operate the plant, the plant is going to shut down,” Gosse said in an interview. “So that’s another 17 people out of work, and that doesn’t include office staff, sales clerks and customer service reps.”
Postmedia’s acquisition of SaltWire and the Halifax Herald is expected to be finalized on Saturday.
“I just wish people knew what the effect of losing small-town, local journalists all over the world is,” Gosse said. “Local journalism keeps people informed about their neighbours and what’s going on in their communities. It keeps people together.”
Gosse said three of the newsroom employees whose jobs have been cut are now in a “transitional phase,” meaning they may be brought back as permanent employees. However, they would replace someone with less seniority and bump them out of a job.
The eliminated newsroom positions include the paper’s photojournalists, including Gosse’s role.
The Telegram’s political reporter, Juanita Mercer, won a National Newspaper Award last year for reporting that pushed the Newfoundland and Labrador government to introduce pay equity legislation. The paper regularly wins Atlantic Journalism Awards for its in-depth coverage on important issues, including the wildly over-budget Muskrat Falls hydroelectricity project and the filthy conditions inside the province’s largest correctional facility.
