Newspaper Employee Numbers Barely A Blip

04/11/2023

The federal government pumps about $750 million a year into the Canadian media industry.

So how is that working out? Former Citizen colleague Deborah Richmond brings us up-to-date in her story in CWA: The media union.

A Bit Of Light In Journalism Darkness

Let’s start with the Ottawa Citizen below. There’s no use praising or complaining to the Citizen. Nobody is there to hear it:

Prior to the cuts, the MNG had 35 members in editorial, down from 42 last March and a far cry from the peak of 275 in 1990 or even the 155 in 2010 (the year in which Postmedia Network acquired the Canwest newspaper chain), which dropped to 100 by 2016.

The Ottawa Newspaper Guild (Local 30205), with 26 members in editorial — The Ottawa Citizen and Ottawa Sun combined — as of the end of January, was to lose four in that department. In March 2022, the ONG had 37 members in editorial.

How is the public, particularly the Ottawa public to get its news?

To read the rest of Richmond’s story, click here.

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