The Daily News demise
The loss of the Halifax Daily News this week is simply incalculable. How can you lose Michael DeAdder’s artful cartoon satire and the insight/incite of columnist David Rodenheiser?
My friend and reporter, Beth Johnston, as well as editor Jack Romaneli, are people that approach their job as a calling. It is important and it matters, and so do they.
Photographer Andrew Forget is also a gem that I will miss.
We not only lost about 100 jobs in Halifax when Transcontinental publishing came in from their ‘Death Star’ in Montreal to suicide bomb the troops and run back. They also killed 100 careers.
I do not sympathize with Transcontinental anymore than I do with Global TV’s “digital decision” to use Toronto studios and let the reporters file from here and mail it in – which they will do in the spring. A “digital decision” can sometimes mean the middle finger for our profession – never for the senior brass.
If only we could so callously digitize the Asper family as well as the decision makers in Montreal I think that the public would be better served.
Life isn’t always about money. Media operators have a public responsibility. That doesn’t mean that they should lose money; it does mean that they should be mandated to care if they don’t know better already.
Time and again I have seen media friends laid off for the incompetence of senior media functionaries, who only get moved around – laterally usually. When vice-presidents and presidents fail, they fail sideways — or actually get promoted!
Not us.
The lack of imagination and outright bungling that erodes the position of viable media entities should not be blamed on those that perform for us, those whom we read and with whom we identify; those we see on TV, those that edit and polish and those that care.
February 13th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
This so called Metro paper is a waste of trees. Really, what will it offer that will be unique; unique enough to justify the space? It’s a crappy alternative! And simply, a cheap appeasement and an insult to the intelligent readers of Halifax!
February 13th, 2008 at 3:01 pm
This sounds funny, but one of the things I Liked about the Daily News was the magazine style reading format. It was much easier to sit in a restaurant and read it than the giant pages of the Chronically Horid.
February 13th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
Losing the Daily News is tough because of the jobs that are lost, to be sure.
Losing the Daily News isn’t much of a loss when it comes to reporting though.
Losing David Rodenhiser is really not losing much at all- I know plenty of people who can state the obvious just as well as he can. He just happened to be paid to do this… It was a good gig for him while it lasted.
I think the big lesson learned is that multinational ownership is often paraded as the boon to the little guy media outlet because of perceived bottomless pockets. The reality is that multinational ownership usually means far more concern for increased profits and little concern for actual quality reporting.
When’s the last time a multinational buyout of a local business has resulted in a boom?
February 13th, 2008 at 8:19 pm
In addition to the environmental concerns, these marvelous little pieces of work only serve to dumb down society even more. Instant headline gratification providing readers in depth analysis on important issues in four sentances or less, wedged between the inaccurate weather and soduku.
Enjoy Halifax.
P.S.: Will someone please start a lobby to get a radio station that plays new rock music from this decade in Halfax. Geez.
February 14th, 2008 at 7:21 am
Andrew
What I can’t understand is if they can’t make money with The Daily News how in the world do they think that they can make money on a FREE paper????
Sounds kind of strange to me. Maybe I’m missing something here and if so please enlighten me .
keep up the great work
Ducke
February 14th, 2008 at 8:20 am
Although I’m not from Halifax, as a fellow Maritimer I certainly sympathize with your loss.
I have a suggestion. Halifax is a young vibrant city and represents a wide spectrum of diversity. As such, Halifax should have more than one form of Print media to reflect this diversity. I recently sent an email out to SUN media publications inquiring about the possibility of their paper setting up shop in Halifax. Michael Sifton- President and CEO for Sun Media indicated that “At this point in time, we do not have any plans to head to Halifax. This being said, it is good to know that if we did, we would have at least you as a reader.”
Let’s be honest, one email won’t make much of a difference. But if Halifax were to rally support in trying to court Sun Media in starting a publication; that may sway their decision. I would also think that a Sun Publication in Halifax could have a broader appeal outside of Halifax than the “Daily” had, which in turn may increase readership. Just a thought.
February 14th, 2008 at 9:25 am
Though I do think it’s unfortunate for a city to lose a newspaper, especially when we’re left with only one (the Chronically Horrid), it doesn’t come as a surprise. Personally, though I still might read one during a break at work, I haven’t purchased a newspaper in ages, and I would think that is pretty common with my generation, where computers and the internet reign supreme over all other forms of media. It likely won’t be that long before news in paper form is entirely replaced by a digital substitute – as much as older generations like to wax sentimental about the newspaper and insist that it will never be replaced, we will soon see ultra thin and portable computers that will download the daily news and even highlight the stories that it thinks will interest you (and they’ll be so cheap that bums can still use them as blankets). To borrow a phrase from Rumsfeld, in today’s modern world, newspapers have been “rendered quaint”. Hopefully there is still a place for good journalism in this new media – unfortunately we probably won’t “need” as many of them.
R.I.P. Daily News – I’m sure you will be missed, but it’s a mass grave you’ve been dumped in and there will be many more like you to come.
And Andrew, you can only blame bungling executives for so long – you might as well start criticizing the head of the Black and White Television Department at Sony for not keeping that dream alive.
February 14th, 2008 at 11:54 am
Say Andrew Wasn’t the Daily News the largest corporate supporter of the
Failed Commonwealth Games Bid ? Where would the city of Halifax be on that score ?
Yes I loved how supporters like the Daily News that have seemed ready to push a concept on the people of Nova Scotia while their bottom lines were in the RED.
Halifax indeed is a paper tiger.
February 14th, 2008 at 8:59 pm
Let’s build a couple skyscrapers (twisted sisters), bring Led Zeppelin to town, and clean up our street crime…….this will get out city back on the map. Losing 1 of 2 newspapers is indicative of moving in the wrong direction. I think we should be proud of the ‘harbour solutions project’ but there is much work to do.
February 15th, 2008 at 7:11 am
I hated the Daily News….who cares….although it will be better for the environment….paper, motor carriers, plastic bags, etc….
February 15th, 2008 at 10:57 am
Andrew:
Would loved to have called today but was unable to.
My rant is this; Mayor Peter Kelly, who I believe has done a decent job as mayor, and his attempt to play big time concert promoter. This is not a role for a mayor if this what Mr Kelly would like to do in life then I suggest that he hang up his chains of office and move in to this profession. I see nothing wrong with the Mayor supporting events for the city but it is not his job to lure these events. That belongs to an event promoter . Also in my opinion the reason Halifax has been having problems securing major acts is the treatment the announcement of the Celin Dion event received. The people in that industry are all connected and bad treatment of one will lead to others avoiding Halifax either in support of each other or fear that they will tared with the same brush as was used on Celin. In this case I believe the only people to blame for Moncton winning out in the event race are the People of Halifax them selves.
February 15th, 2008 at 5:14 pm
will miss the daily news. not only do i listen to your show every day but i also read this paper daily. loved the magazine style of the paper. would like to hear more content on your show about the migration of people from the maritimes to western canada. this topic is not discussed enough and no one seems to be doing anything about it.
February 18th, 2008 at 7:25 am
Well Joe you may be right in regards to concert promotion but the mayor of Halifax is far from the one to blame on that score. The Commons was never a concert venue before the rolling stones and it hasnt been a concert venue since. Moncton has the Geographic Catchment Area that is 33 percent more then Halifax and Moncton has Built an Actually Venue very well over time. Going to Halifax requires more expense from every standpoint despite a larger local population.
Halifax is getting beat by very intelligent people in Moncton and will have a new Facility with the IAAF World Juniors in 2010. Halifax well it feels it has to go for the impossible against two cities with many stadiums.
I can see a Softseater type show at the new grandstand on the moncton campus and a possible hosting of one of FIFA’s junior Championships like last years U-20 which Canada hosted.
February 19th, 2008 at 7:03 am
No great loss the paper stunk and i won’t miss it
February 27th, 2008 at 6:39 pm
The demise of the Daily News makes me sad and angry. Transcontinental did everything they could to make the paper fail from the time they bought it from Can West
The paper had made money until they took control. They then proceeded to strip it of anything valuable. They fired long term circulation employees who knew how to market the paper. They brought in people from smaller markets with little newspaper experience who had never worked in a competitive market. They then told them to make it work with fewer people and a smaller budget.
They sold the building that the paper had owned in Burnside. I doubt the proceeds of the sale was reinvested in the paper, but was mailed to Head Office in Montreal. They then moved and started paying rent in one of the most expensive buildings in Halifax.
With the sale of the building they moved the printing presses to their other properties. With this, the paper had to pay to have the product produced at a Transcontinental facility where it took the back seat to the other customers the company had. The paper lost control of its own destiny.
Transcontinental shoulders all of the blame for the destruction of the Daily News. They wanted to print the product, that was their sole objective. They didn’t care about their employees or the role the paper played in the community. That was quite obvious. The least they could have done is tried to sell it to someone who might have been interested in building the paper instead of taking the profits. But instead they were worried about the lucrative flyer contracts they had, that pollute our mailboxes and doorsteps. They kept the flyer business but killed the paper.
People should boycott their weekly flyer pack disguised as a community newspaper. Call them and tell them you don’t want it at your door.
And please don’t forget the others who lost their jobs. The people that no one mentioned who worked for the various distributors that made sure the paper got out every morning. These people got nothing, not a mention or a cent for their loss.