Metroland officials announced none of its community newspapers will be printed next week, leaving 4.2 million people without a print edition of their community newspaper and advertising flyers.
See related: Metroland ends print editions of community papers, keeps regional dailies
Layoff notices are on their way to 605 workers, nearly two-thirds of the company's workforce as the company will no longer print 71 community newspapers, effective immediately. This includes the nearby Almaguin News which will continue in its digital format on NorthBayNipissing.com.
Friday morning, Metroland announced the restructuring of its operations and confirmed it is seeking protection under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act.
See also: Metroland announces cutbacks, ends Barrie Advance print edition
And: Niagara This Week ceases publication
Some of the community papers have been printed for well over a century, according to the Metroland Media Group's website. The company is maintaining its six daily newspapers — including the Hamilton Spectator, Peterborough Examiner, St. Catharines Standard, Niagara Falls Review, Welland Tribune and the Waterloo Region Record — which will continue both in print and online.
The Toronto Star is omitted from the bankruptcy application as it is controlled by a separate company and will also continue to operate.
Almaguin News and NorthBayNipissing.com are part of Metroland North Media, a division of Metroland Media Group Ltd., a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation. Torstar is owned by Nordstar Capital, which is owned by Toronto entrepreneur Jordan Bitove.
In a letter to readers, Lee Ann Waterman, the vice-president of editorial for Metroland Media wrote, "The final delivery of your local paper was this week. Metroland’s six daily publications will continue to publish both online and in print. We are confident this restructuring will make Metroland a sustainable business moving forward. A lot has changed in the past several years.
"Our newsrooms became digital first – meaning all stories, big or small, were available on our websites before they were published in print, and, as advertising dollars and newspapers shrunk, many stories never made it to print at all. The pandemic and continued losses in revenue pushed us out of our newsrooms and left us working virtually. Our ranks have dwindled dramatically."
The newspaper industry has been decimated in recent years as digital advertising ate into print advertising revenues, which newspapers depended on to survive. The Globe & Mail reported today that between 2008 and April 2021, around 448 news operations have shut down in 323 communities, according to the Canadian Media Directors’ Council, an industry association.
Waterman continued, "Becoming a digital-only business is the next step in our evolution – precipitated by the loss of revenue from print advertising and our flyer distribution business, as well as the stranglehold Big Tech has on digital advertising.
"Our newspapers are gone but we are still here."
— With files from BarrieToday and PelhamToday
