· CBC News ·
f you want to understand the struggling local news landscape, look no further than Atlantic Canada, where a takeover has kept the region’s largest newspaper publisher in operation, but still leaves local journalism in a tenuous state.
Toronto-based Postmedia has taken over the financially insolvent SaltWire Network, Halifax-based owner of daily and weekly newspapers across Atlantic Canada.
The $1-million deal, completed Monday, may have saved SaltWire’s newsrooms in Nova Scotia, P.E.I. and Newfoundland and Labrador.
Postmedia, which has been majority owned by U.S. hedge fund Chatham Asset Management since 2016, isn’t known for investing in the future of its local newspapers, according to people familiar with the company’s history with them.
“Its M.O. has been to slash and burn as much as possible to generate cash out of its property,” said April Lindgren, a professor at Toronto Metropolitan University’s (TMU) School of Journalism.
“I don’t see any future that involves huge investments in content.”
Recent Comments