Vancouver dailies face deep cuts

by Castanet Staff - Apr 24, 2013 / 4:00 pm From CBC

Staff at The Vancouver Sun and The Province newspapers have been told to expect another round of layoffs because the current business is unsustainable.  In a message to staff issued on Wednesday, Pacific Newspaper Group president and publisher Gordon Fisher said the papers are facing alarming declines in revenue from print advertising and if the trend continues the businesses are unsustainable. "I would be less than honest if I failed to point out that, as an example, our productions costs are dramatically higher than those of our peers. As one small but enlightening example, we are not in the insert business because it is impossible to profitably compete due to our costs," said Fisher. Fisher said a voluntary staff reduction program will be followed by the layoff an unspecified number of employees . "These are not easy decisions and we do recognize that such programs mean we will lose senior employees with valuable experience as well as more junior staff with future potential." Fisher, a former managing editor for the Vancouver Sun, was appointed president of Pacific Newspaper Group in January. PNG is owned by Postmedia Network.