Union says layoffs coming as Glacier Media cancels print editions of three Lower Mainland newspapers

Staff at three community newspapers in the Lower Mainland are bracing for layoffs as their publisher announced it will cancel the outlets' printed editions next week, according to their union.

Some experts say the changes will leave the communities they serve witheven less local news coverage.

On July 31, Glacier Media informed Unifor Local 2000 that it would shut down print operations and lay off staff at Burnaby Now, Tri-City News and the New Westminster Record by Aug. 11, the union said in a Thursday statement.

The last print edition of each paper will be on Aug.10, according to a Burnaby Now story announcing the changes to readers on Thursday.

Glacier has not said whether any ofitsmore-than-30 other community newspapers across B.C. and Western Canada are also ceasing print.

The decision to cancel print editions of the three Lower Mainland papers was made due to shifting media market conditions, said Lara Graham, publisher of Burnaby Now and New Westminster Record.

"We're not going anywhere," she told Burnaby Now. "We're still here, and we'll still continue to provide the quality community journalism that our readers have come to expect over our decades in our communities."

But the union says Glacier Media failed to give proper notice of layoffs, and will meet with the company starting on Aug. 9 to negotiate the planned layoffs.

Under Section 54 of B.C.'s Labour Code, the company must give the union 60 days notice for intended layoffs.

Active bargaining forthe Tri-City News contract is also paused, said Unifor Local 2000 president Brian Gibson.

"We have demanded that the company continue printing operations until an agreement is reached," said Unifor Local 2000 on Thursday.

CBC did not receive a response to multiple requests for comment to Alvin Brouwer, Glacier's president of Lower Mainland Publishing.

Community papers across Canada hit hard

The end of the print editions doesn't come as a huge surprise to Alfred Hermida, a professor at the University of British Columbia's school of journalism, writing and media.

Newspapers have borne the brunt of layoffs and shrinking advertising revenues as more readers opt to consume their news online and via social media.

"They're getting their news not [just] first thing in the morning or the evening, but throughout the day, and often they're using their smartphone for that," said Hermida.

"So in some ways, this is adjusting to that new reality."

B.C. lost 185 reporters and columnists between 2016 and 2021, according to the 2021 census.

In 2001, Unifor says the Vancouver Sun and Province had 155 reporters and 318 editors, which had dropped to 40 reporters and 69 editors by 2021.

Canada's largest media union, the Canadian Media Guild, estimates more than 14,000 newsroom jobs were lost across the country between 2008 and 2016.

According to the Local News Research Project, community papers have been hit particularly hard, with 189 closing across Canada between 2008 and 2018.

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Jennifer Moreau, a former reporter with bothBurnabyNow and the New Westminster Record between 2006 and 2016, says the cancellations and potential layoffs will make it harder for readers, particularly seniors, to get the local news that matters to them.

"It was inevitable, but it doesn't make it any less shocking," said Moreau, who is now a national representative for Unifor. "It's a huge blow to the community."

She says the changes are a symptom of much bigger problems in Canadian journalism where a handful of private companies own the vast majority of outlets.

In Moreau'sexperience, losing staff erodes the quality of the journalism remaining staff can produce, and sheworries the shift to digital-only means prioritizing stories that drive clicks and ad revenue over essential local news coverage.

"People want to click on a video but don't want to read those local city council stories," said Moreau. "So what's left? Where do you get that information?"

Hermida says Meta's recent announcement that it will block Canadian news content on its platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, in response to Canada's Online News Act will also make it harder for digital-only publications to reach their audiences.

"That is probably the greatest threat to local publications," he said.

"So we're going to move away from one situation where we expect the news to find us [and] we're going to have to go seeking out that local news."