Niyamath Parveez

The biggest newspaper of any country has an important job to do in bringing news, reviews and updates to the population. Not everyone reads a newspaper but there is no doubt that the printed press remains at the forefront of informing people what is going on. Television and internet media have definitely eaten into readerships of newspapers and this means that these companies have to consider new ways to remain viable. Whilst they have a vital role to play in informing people, newspapers cannot take a free role and need to remain a going financial concern, as much as any other company would have to do.

This is exactly the case which is facing the Toronto Star, the biggest newspaper in Canada. Considering the size and breadth of Canada, this indicates how major a newspaper it is but even the world’s most famous newspaper can fall on harsh times. The Star is not alone in suffering financially at the moment and the opportunity to save money without harming the quality of the newspaper is something that has to be considered. When you add an actual figure to the level of savings that can be achieved, it can be easily seen why this is a popular course of action.

It is said that if the Toronto Star undertakes its outsourcing plan, it may be able to save $4m. This is a figure too good to turn down but what does the Toronto Star have to do in order to make this saving. It will come as no surprise to see that job losses are involved, with 78 editorial jobs set to go. This equates to around one fifth of the newspaper’s editorial staff, no small amount, even in this modern era of technology assisting with printing processes. Pagemasters North America are set to be the lucky beneficiaries of these jobs and should be able to ensure the newspaper carries along in the same vein that readers have grown accustomed to.

As always in the situation, the trade unions will have an interest and they have been given 30 days to post an interest or air any grievances. In all likelihood, if a trade union was worth their weight to members, they would be appealing against these decisions in order to support the staff. This means that it is likely they will be getting involved in this situation, to at least keep up appearances.

Many jobs where people look like losing their job will garner some support from the local community and population but the role of editor is not one that will grab the attention. This means that attempting strike action or other such methods would be unlikely to assist in the long run. This could mean that it is more likely to see the outsourcing move be finalized, bringing a greater degree of saving to the newspaper.

This is of benefit to the management team behind the Toronto Star but whether it is good news for the local community will be uncovered later.