Local journalism in Atlantic Canada in trouble: Company known for its slash-and-burn practices buys dozens of newspapers

Nick Logan |

Anyone who wants to understand the problems of the local news landscape only has to look to the Atlantic provinces of Canada. There, the region's largest newspaper publisher was able to stay afloat through a corporate takeover, but local journalism is still in a precarious situation.

Toronto-based newspaper publisher Postmedia, which owns the National Post and the Montreal Gazette, has acquired the financially insolvent SaltWire Network, the Halifax-based newspaper publisher of daily and weekly newspapers across Atlantic Canada.

The $1 million deal, completed on Monday, may have saved SaltWire's newsrooms in Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador.

“Change is difficult, but at Postmedia we believe deeply in a positive, sustainable and vibrant future for news media in the Atlantic provinces and across Canada,” said Postmedia CEO Andrew McLeod in a editorial Published Monday.

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