The Metroland Media Group, owned by Nordstar Capital, which owns the Bracebridge Examiner, Gravenhurst Banner, Huntsville Forester and The Muskokan, among other community publications, announced Friday that it plans to end the print editions of its community newspapers and will exit the flyer business as it seeks protection under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act as part of a restructuring plan.
Under the plan, Metroland’s community publications will move to a digital-only model.
Metroland stated the decision is a result of unsustainable financial losses stemming from the changing preferences of consumers and advertisers.
“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,” the company said in a statement.
“The decline of the print and flyer distribution business was significantly accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, and by the reduction of flyer usage both by readers and advertisers as a marketing vehicle.”
The restructuring will mean the loss of 605 jobs or about 60 per cent of its total workforce.
Locally, Metroland sold its building in Huntsville and staff in both Bracebridge and Huntsville were working from home.
The bankruptcy will spare the company’s 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 will also continue to operate, as it is owned by a separate company and not part of the bankruptcy filing, according to Muskoka Region.
Compiled with reports from the Toronto Star, Globe and Mail and Global News and Muskoka Region.
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I am very saddened to hear this news. I loved getting the flyers each week and reading the examiner. Very sad.
Especially for all the people that have worked so hard at these papers over the years so that others get information, news and enjoyment. To say nothing of the enjoyment of actually reading a newspaper instead of a computer screen or phone. This is the thanks they get.