Metroland’s parent company, Nordstar, laying off 605 people. Photo credit: Pexels/Mike Van Schoonderwalt
Six long-time Hamilton community newspapers will no longer be distributed in print after Metroland Media Group announced just a few days ago that they would be seeking bankruptcy protection.
Instead, the Ancaster News, Dundas Star News, Flamborough Review, Glanbrook Gazette, Hamilton Mountain News, and Stoney Creek News will all only be available online.
Metroland Media’s parent company, Nordstar, is also laying off 605 people and 65 other community newspapers across Ontario are also moving to an online-only format.
Employees, union leaders, and the public were all reportedly blindsided by the news.
Metroland’s six regional daily newspapers, which include The Hamilton Spectator, Niagara Falls Review, Peterborough Review, St. Catharines Standard, Waterloo Regional Record, and Welland Tribune, will continue both in print and online.
Those losing their jobs in the sudden announcement include journalists, editors, and newspaper carriers.
Community newspapers in the Hamilton area were also distributed in print by carriers alongside various store flyers.
The Hamilton Independent has learned that a number of those store flyers are now instead being distributed via Canada Post.
Lee Ann Waterman, vice president of editorial for Metroland Media, wrote in a statement that they “are confident this restructuring will make Metroland a sustainable business moving forward.”
A company statement largely blamed “digital tech giants” for the company’s struggles.
“The media industry continues to face existential challenges, largely because digital tech giants have used their dominant positions to take the vast majority of the advertising revenue in Canada,” read the statement.
In a separate but related move, The Hamilton Spectator is closing their physical newsroom, shifting reporters to remote work in order to cut costs.
However, as mentioned, coverage will still continue in print and online.
Nevertheless, the situation is being mourned by journalists for being the loss of the traditional newsroom environment.
It appears that the newsroom might have closed as of October 1, with some employees already announcing via social media that they have officially moved out.
The Spec previously moved from their newsroom from Frid Street in the west end to Pritchard Road on the east Mountain in 2020.
In terms of local job losses, CBC Hamilton reports that journalists Mark Newman and Kevin Werner from Hamilton Community News are both being laid off and will be out of work come December.
Newman has worked for the Hamilton Community News since 1996 and Werner has had a role there since 1999.
Based in Hamilton, he reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. He has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa (BA, 2022). He has also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
