Postmedia Network

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Postmedia Network Canada Corp.
TypePublic
TSX: PNC.A, PNC.B
IndustryMass media
PredecessorCanwest
FoundedJuly 13, 2010; 11 years ago (2010-07-13)
HeadquartersToronto, Ontario, Canada
ProductsNewspapers, Media Websites, News Content
RevenueDecrease $619.6 million CAD (2019)[1]
Owner
Number of employees
4,733[2]
Websitepostmedia.com

Postmedia Network Canada Corp.[3] (also known as Postmedia Network, Postmedia News or Postmedia) is a Canadian media conglomerate[4] consisting of the publishing properties of the former Canwest, with primary operations in newspaper publishing, news gathering and Internet operations. It is best known for being the owner of the National Post and Financial Post.

The company's strategy has seen its publications invest greater resources in digital news gathering and distribution, including expanded websites and digital news apps for smartphones and tablets.[5] This began with a revamp and redesign of the Ottawa Citizen, which debuted in 2014.[5]

Postmedia is currently 66% owned by an American media conglomerate (Chatham Asset Management).[6]

History[]

The ownership group was assembled by National Post CEO Paul Godfrey[7] in 2010 to bid for the chain of newspapers being sold by the financially troubled Asper family’s Canwest (the company's broadcasting assets were sold separately to Shaw Communications). Godfrey secured financial backing from a U.S. private equity firm, the Manhattan-based hedge fund GoldenTree Asset Management—which owns 35 per cent—as well as IJNR Investment Trust, Nyppex and other investors.[7] The group completed a $1.1 billion transaction to acquire the chain from Canwest on July 13, 2010.[7]

On October 6, 2014, Postmedia's CEO Godfrey announced a deal to acquire the English-language operations of Sun Media.[7][8] The purchase received regulatory approval from the federal Competition Bureau on March 25, 2015,[9] even though the company manages competitive papers in several Canadian cities; while the Sun Media chain owns numerous other papers, four of its five Sun-branded tabloids operate in markets where Postmedia already publishes a broadsheet competitor.[8] Board chair Rod Phillips has cited the Vancouver market, in which the two main daily newspapers, the Vancouver Sun and The Province, have had common ownership for over 30 years, as evidence that the deal would not be anticompetitive.[8] The purchase did not include Sun Media's now-defunct Sun News Network.[8] The acquisition was approved by the Competition Bureau on March 25, 2015,[10] and closed on April 13.[11]

Margo Goodhand, a former Edmonton Journal editor-in-chief, wrote in a 2016 Walrus article that Postmedia executives were behind outsourcing of Postmedia content to produce “Regina Leader-Post sports pages, Arts fronts for the Montreal Gazette, editorial pages for the Vancouver Sun” to a site within an office in Canada.[12][13]

In 2016, the company sought to restructure its compensation plans and reduce spending by as much as 20%, after reporting a net loss of $99.4 million, or 35 cents per diluted share, in the fourth-quarter ended Aug 31, compared with a $54.1 million net loss, or 19 cents per diluted share, in the same period a year earlier. This resulted in 90 newsroom staff losing their jobs.[14]

On November 27, 2017, Postmedia and Torstar announced a transaction in which Postmedia will sell seven dailies, eight community papers, and the Toronto and Vancouver 24 Hours to Torstar, in exchange for 22 community papers and the Ottawa and Winnipeg versions of Metro. Except for the Exeter Times-Advocate, St. Catharines Standard, Niagara Falls Review, Peterborough Examiner, and Welland Tribune, all acquired papers will be closed.[15][16]

In March 2018, the Competition Bureau issued a court filing accusing the two companies of structuring the deal with no-compete clauses in an effort to reduce competition in the newspaper industry, in violation of the Competition Act.[17][18]

On June 26, 2018, Canadian Press reported that, by the end of August, Postmedia will be closing the Camrose Canadian in Camrose, Alberta, in Strathmore, Alberta, in Kapuskasing, Ontario, in Ingersoll, Ontario, in Norwich, Ontario and in Petrolia, Ontario. It will also cease printing the in Portage La Prairie, Manitoba, the Northern News in Kirkland Lake, Ontario, and Pembroke Daily Observer in Pembroke, Ontario while maintaining a digital presence for the three publications. As well, the in High River, Alberta will go from being published twice a week to once a week.[19]

On November 27, 2018, The Competition Bureau applied for a court evaluation contesting Postmedia’s claims of solicitor-client privilege, for records seized by the bureau during raids at the company's offices.[20]

On June 2019, Kevin Libin, the National Post and Financial Post comments editor and editorials editor and a founding editor of Western Standard, was assigned “executive editor of Postmedia politics".[4] The role focuses on coverage for federal politics in the Post. In addition, it focuses on coverage of federal and provincial politics within all of the dailies owned by Postmedia.[12]

In November 2019, Postmedia announced[21] that 66% of its shares were now owned by , an American media conglomerate which owns American Media, Inc., and is known for its close ties to the Republican party.[22]

Operating Branch[]

Postmedia News[]

Postmedia News is the "news" branch of Postmedia Network, providing similar content to all of its subsidiary news outlets and websites. It is identified as a source on all of its subsidiary newspapers.[23] The news agency provides news, sports, entertainment, photography, financial and feature information and data to Postmedia Network's Canadian newspapers, online properties and a number of third party clients in Canada and the United States.[citation needed]

Controversies[]

The creation of the Postmedia Network effectively concentrates more than 90 percent of all Canadian dailies and weeklies in one company, a fact lamented by J-Source, a Canadian media watchdog, in a 2015 online article.[24]

In 2016, Godfrey took a $900,000 bonus during a time that Postmedia laid off staff company-wide.[25]

In October 2018, it was reported that CEO Andrew MacLeod had declared the company "insufficiently conservative." That resulted in Kevin Libin, who had played an active role in defeating a union drive at the paper earlier that year,[26] taking charge of all political reporting and analysis in Postmedia newspapers to ensure the newspapers became more “reliably conservative."[27]

Corporate Governance[]

Board of Directors[]

Current members of the board:[28]

  • Wendy Henkelman (Calgary, AB, Canada)
  • Paul V. Godfrey (Toronto, ON, Canada)
  • Peter Sharpe (Toronto, ON, Canada)
  • John Bode (Naples, FL, United States)
  • Graham W. Savage (Toronto, ON, Canada)
  • Janet Ecker (Ajax, ON, Canada)
  • Andrew MacLeod (Kitchener, ON, Canada)
  • Mary Junck (Pleasant Valley, IA, United States)
  • Daniel Rotstein (Plantation, FL, United States)

Assets[]

Advertising[]

  • The Flyer Force
  • Go!Local

Publishing[]

Broadsheet dailies[]

Tabloid dailies[]

Community newspapers[]

Postmedia owns newspapers that serve smaller communities across Canada, including:

Former assets[]

Magazines[]

  • Muskoka Magazine
  • Kingston Life Magazine
  • Interiors Magazine
  • Backpack Magazine
  • Cannabis Post
  • Muskoka Visitor Guide
  • Ontario Farmer Magazines (Hog, Beef, Dairy)
  • Swerve

Online[]

  • Canada.com
  • Infomart.com

In addition, Postmedia Network owns all websites associated with all properties listed on this page either wholly or in partnership.

Software[]

See also[]

Other media groups in Canada include:

Related articles[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Postmedia Fiscal 2020 Q1 financial report" (PDF). section 14
  2. ^ 2015 Annual Information Form (PDF), Postmedia Network Canada Corp., 2014
  3. ^ "Federal Corporation Information". Corporations Canada. Retrieved May 28, 2020.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b "You Must Be This Conservative To Ride: The Inside Story of Postmedia's Right Turn". www.canadalandshow.com. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b "Postmedia revamps Ottawa Citizen's digital service". CBC News, May 20, 2014.
  6. ^ "Postmedia Fiscal 2020 Q1 financial report" (PDF). section 14
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Olive, David (January 23, 2015). "Postmedia and the heavy price it pays to survive: Olive". Toronto, ON. Retrieved February 22, 2016.
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b c d "Postmedia buys 175-paper Sun Media for $316m". Toronto Star, October 6, 2014.
  9. ^ Competition Bureau will not challenge Postmedia’s acquisition of Sun Media. Competition Bureau, March 25, 2015.
  10. ^ "Postmedia purchase of Quebecor's Sun Media OK'd by Competition Bureau". CBC News. Retrieved March 25, 2015.
  11. ^ "Postmedia-Sun Media deal officially closes".
  12. ^ Jump up to: a b "The new worry about the next election: your daily news - Macleans.ca". www.macleans.ca. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  13. ^ Goodh, Margo (February 4, 2016). "Above the Fold". The Walrus. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  14. ^ "Five things to know with Canada's news media industry under public policy review - CityNews Toronto". CityNews Toronto. June 21, 2016. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
  15. ^ "Postmedia to close community newspapers in Stratford, London, St. Thomas". CBC News. Retrieved November 27, 2017.
  16. ^ "Torstar, Postmedia swap community papers, most to close". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved November 27, 2017.
  17. ^ "Competition Bureau's concerns over Postmedia-Torstar newspaper swap revealed in court filing". Financial Post. March 22, 2018. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
  18. ^ "Torstar, Postmedia and the arrogance of the deal". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
  19. ^ "Postmedia to close more local newspapers, cut staff by 10 per cent". Ottawa Citizen. Canadian Press. June 26, 2018. Retrieved June 26, 2018.
  20. ^ "Torstar (Again) Blocks Release of Evidence in Conspiracy Case". The Tyee. Retrieved March 4, 2019.
  21. ^ "Postmedia Fiscal 2020 Q1 financial report" (PDF). section 14
  22. ^ "Behind Trump Tabloid King, a Connected and Flush Hedge Fund". Bloomberg. August 30, 2018. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
  23. ^ "Postmedia News | National Post". National Post. National Post. Retrieved October 24, 2020.
  24. ^ "Diversity of Media Ownership Literally Non-existent in Canada". Retrieved August 16, 2019.
  25. ^ "Postmedia executives receive $2.3-million in retention bonuses". Retrieved August 16, 2019.
  26. ^ "How Postmedia Defeated A Union Drive At The National Post". CANADALAND. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  27. ^ "Postmedia's employees should stand up to their right-wing bosses". National Observer. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  28. ^ "Federal Corporation Information - 753553-8 - Online Filing Centre - Corporations Canada - Corporations - Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada". www.ic.gc.ca. Retrieved October 24, 2020.
  29. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Telecom; Media (November 27, 2017). "'The alarm bells should go off:' Postmedia, Torstar deal will see 36 community papers closed - Financial Post".

External links[]

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