Layoffs at Manitoba newspapers

FP Newspapers Income Fund, majority owner of the Winnipeg Free Press and the Brandon Sun, announced it is cutting what amounts to 26 full-time positions.

The restructuring at the paper includes 20 layoffs and six vacant positions that will not be filled, according to a Canadian Press report.

Along with the Free Press and the Sun, the fund also “operates Canstar Community News Ltd.’s five weekly newspapers, a weekly entertainment newspaper and a twice-monthly newspaper aimed at age 50-plus readers in Winnipeg. It also operates delivery businesses in Winnipeg and Thunder Bay, Ont.”

The company said in a statement:

“The economic slowdown affecting most businesses is having a significant impact on all media operations as retailers and manufacturers reduce advertising spending. These reductions, which we started to see in the two months following the October strike, can occur quickly and can be deep.”

A revenue drop of 16.7 per cent, the company said, was affected by 16 days of  publishing lost to an employee strike.