Rob McLaughlin is a Canadian journalist and film producer who is currently the executive producer of the National Film Board of Canada 's Digital Studio in Vancouver . McLaughlin was announced as the head of the NFB studio in May 2016, having previously served as Director of Digital Content and Strategy at the NFB from 2008–2011.
43-953: From 2011 until his return to the NFB, he was the Regional Vice President of Editorial for all of Postmedia 's newspapers in Western Canada as well as was Editor-in-Chief of two newspapers in Saskatchewan , the Saskatoon StarPhoenix and the Regina Leader-Post . In his first stint with NFB, McLaughlin was responsible for the strategy and production of many of its pioneering interactive documentary projects including Waterlife , Welcome to Pine Point , Bear 71 , God's Lake Narrows and The Test Tube With David Suzuki . Prior to joining
86-492: A "transformation plan geared toward managing costs". Later that day, Postmedia said it had also sold the Calgary Herald building for $ 17.23 million to U-Haul Co. after trying to sell it for nearly a decade. In July 2023, Postmedia Network Canada Corp. and Nordstar Capital LP announced that merger discussion between the two newspaper publishers will not continue. On May 27, 2024, Postmedia announced that it would sell
129-501: A 20 per cent stake in CTVglobemedia , a Canadian media company which broke up when BCE Inc. , the parent company of Bell Canada , purchased the company's media assets. This caused some controversy because CTVgm owned The Globe and Mail , a competing newspaper to Torstar's own Toronto Star . There were no editorial hurdles between the two newspapers however. Torstar sold its shares in 2011. On May 2, 2014, Torstar announced
172-579: A U.S. private equity firm , the Manhattan-based hedge fund GoldenTree Asset Management —which owns 35 per cent—as well as IJNR Investment Trust, Nyppex and other investors. The group completed a $ 1.1 billion transaction to acquire the chain from Canwest on July 13, 2010. On October 6, 2014, Postmedia's CEO Godfrey announced a deal to acquire the English-language operations of Sun Media . The purchase received regulatory approval from
215-611: A court evaluation contesting Postmedia's claims of solicitor-client privilege, for records seized by the bureau during raids at the company's offices. In March 2018, the Competition Bureau issued a court filing accusing Postmedia and Torstar of structuring the deal they made together with no-compete clauses in an effort to reduce competition in the newspaper industry in violation of the Competition Act . According to Marc Edge, author of The Postmedia Effect ,
258-609: A digital presence for the three publications. As well, the High River Times in High River, Alberta will go from being published twice a week to once a week. During the COVID-19 pandemic , Postmedia laid off approximately 80 employees and permanently closed 15 community publications while navigating the financial strain of COVID-19. While the company utilized government subsidies, they claim they were unable to offset
301-406: A law barring the provisions of late- Toronto Star owner Joseph Atkinson 's will from being enacted. Atkinson had bequeathed the newspaper to a charitable organization he had founded. The Progressive Conservative provincial government of George Drew passed a law banning charitable organizations from operating profitable entities such as newspapers. Rather than sell the newspaper, the trustees of
344-400: A net loss of $ 99.4 million, or 35 cents per diluted share, in the fourth-quarter ended Aug 31, compared with a $ 54.1 million net loss, or 19 cents per diluted share, in the same period a year earlier. This resulted in 90 newsroom staff losing their jobs. On November 27, 2017, Postmedia and Torstar announced a transaction in which Postmedia will sell seven dailies, eight community papers, and
387-402: A parcel delivery business and "proprietary distribution software". In 2023, Postmedia announced it would be moving a dozen of its Alberta community papers to digital-only platforms, aiming for more outsourcing deals and laying off employees. The announcement was made January 18, 2023, during an internal memo to staff that was obtained by The Canadian Press , describing the measures as a part of
430-571: A private company with former Premier of Ontario David Peterson as chair of the board. On July 11, the NordStar bid was increased to $ 60 million, or 74 cents per share, with the Voting Trust and Fairfax revising their soft lock-up agreements, to hard lock-ups. This effectively put an end to the bidding process because the terms of the revised bid meant that "the Voting Trust and Fairfax can't change their votes to support any other bid". In
473-552: A revamp and redesign of the Ottawa Citizen , which debuted in 2014. Two-thirds, or 66%, of Postmedia is currently owned by American media conglomerate Chatham Asset Management . The ownership group was assembled by National Post CEO Paul Godfrey in 2010 to bid for the chain of newspapers being sold by the financially troubled Asper family's Canwest (the company's broadcasting assets were sold separately to Shaw Communications ). Godfrey secured financial backing from
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#1732797467382516-607: A significant member of Torstar's voting trust and the great grandson of the founder of Torstar, Joseph E. Atkinson, Torstar's original publisher and the author of the Atkinson Principles. Folland is also the grandson of Harry Hindmarsh, who was President of the Star following Atkinson's death in 1948. His personal ties to the Toronto Star date back to age 13 when he took a job as an office boy. In that article. Folland
559-591: A union drive at the paper earlier that year, taking charge of all political reporting and analysis in Postmedia newspapers to ensure the newspapers became more "reliably conservative." In June 2019, Kevin Libin, comments editor and editorials editor of the National Post and Financial Post and a founding editor of Western Standard , was assigned “executive editor of Postmedia politics". The role focuses on
602-592: Is a Canadian mass media company which primarily publishes news. In addition to the Toronto Star , its flagship and namesake, Torstar also publishes daily newspapers in Hamilton , Peterborough , Niagara Region , and Waterloo Region In addition to the Metroland Media Group and a minority position on Canadian Press . The corporation was initially established in 1958 to take over operations of
645-671: Is identified as a source on all of its subsidiary newspapers. The news agency provides news, sports, entertainment, photography, financial and feature information and data to Postmedia Network's Canadian newspapers, online properties and a number of third party clients in Canada and the United States. In October 2018, it was reported that CEO Andrew MacLeod had declared the company "insufficiently conservative ". That resulted in Kevin Libin, who had played an active role in defeating
688-547: Is quoted as saying, "I was really disappointed in the outcome. I felt that the process wasn't really fair in the way it affected me." Late in the evening on July 27, an Ontario court approved the $ 60-million takeover of Torstar Corp. by private equity firm NordStar Capital LP over the objections of a rival bidding group, which immediately said it planned to appeal the judge's decision. Ontario Superior Court Justice Cory Gilmore ruled NordStar, could close their purchase of Torstar, The Daily News Brands division primarily comprises
731-1225: The Camrose Canadian in Camrose, Alberta , Strathmore Standard in Strathmore, Alberta , Kapuskasing Northern Times in Kapuskasing, Ontario , Ingersoll Times in Ingersoll, Ontario , Norwich Gazette in Norwich, Ontario and Petrolia Topic in Petrolia, Ontario . It will also cease printing the Portage Daily Graphic in Portage La Prairie, Manitoba , the Northern News in Kirkland Lake, Ontario , and Pembroke Daily Observer in Pembroke, Ontario while maintaining
774-732: The Toronto Star and its associated properties, including Torstar Syndication Services . The division also owns The Hamilton Spectator , the Waterloo Region Record , the St. Catharines Standard , the Niagara Falls Review , the Welland Tribune , and the Peterborough Examiner . The StarMetro chain of free daily newspapers serving Calgary , Edmonton , Halifax , Toronto , and Vancouver
817-572: The Vancouver Sun and The Province , have had common ownership for over 30 years, as evidence that the deal would not be anticompetitive. The purchase did not include Sun Media's now-defunct Sun News Network . The acquisition was approved by the Competition Bureau on March 25, 2015, and closed on April 13. In 2016, the company sought to restructure its compensation plans and reduce spending by as much as 20%, after reporting
860-582: The Winnipeg Sun , the Portage la Prairie Graphic Leader , Kenora Miner and News , and company's Winnipeg printing operations to politician and former Sun publisher Kevin Klein . In July 2024, the company entered into an agreement to acquire SaltWire Network . Postmedia News is the news branch of Postmedia Network, providing similar content to all of its subsidiary news outlets and websites. It
903-486: The Competition Bureau sealed from the public. On May 26, 2020, Toronto Star publisher John Honderich announced the sale of Torstar to Nordstar Capital LP, for $ 52 million. The price for the class A voting shares and class B non-voting shares was set at 63 cents in the deal. At the time of the most recent quarter, Torstar had $ 69 million in cash on its balance sheet – more than the $ 52-million acquisition price from Nordstar. However, Torstar's share price had suffered from
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#1732797467382946-593: The Star from the Atkinson Foundation after a provincial law banned charitable organizations from owning for-profit entities. From 1958 to 2020, the class A shares of Torstar were held by the families of the original Atkinson Foundation trustees. The private investment firm NordStar Capital LP, now owned by Jordan Bitove, acquired the company in 2020. Torstar was founded after the Ontario government passed
989-551: The Atkinson Foundation bought out the Star privately and founded Torstar as a private corporation. On November 26, 2010, it was announced that the Canadian Press news agency would be taken over by a for-profit corporation, with Torstar serving as one of its investors. On November 27, 2017, Postmedia and Torstar announced a transaction in which Postmedia would sell seven dailies, eight community papers, and
1032-530: The NFB under the company name Subject Matter Inc. and collaborated with Katerina Cizek to develop the NFB website Filmmaker in Residence, which won the Webby Award for Best Documentary Series in 2008. Postmedia Network Postmedia Network Canada Corp. (also known as Postmedia Network , Postmedia News or Postmedia ) is a foreign-owned Canadian-based media conglomerate consisting of
1075-654: The NFB, McLaughlin worked at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation as a director of digital programming. From 2000 to 2005 he was the executive producer of CBC Radio 3 and managed content creation for the group’s collection of web sites and radio programs. CBC Radio 3 won a Webby Award for Best Broadband site in 2003 and the People Choice Webby Awards in the Radio and Broadband categories. McLaughlin had first worked with
1118-489: The Postmedia Network effectively concentrates more than 90 percent of all Canadian dailies and weeklies in one company, a fact lamented by J-Source, a Canadian media watchdog, in a 2015 online article. Margo Goodhand , a former Edmonton Journal editor-in-chief , wrote in a 2016 Walrus article that Postmedia executives were behind the outsourcing of Postmedia content to a site within an office in Canada for
1161-403: The Postmedia executives to reject the total $ 2,275,000 as the newspaper chain continued to cut staff. Postmedia owns newspapers that serve smaller communities across Canada, including: In addition, Postmedia Network owns all websites associated with all properties listed on this page either wholly or in partnership. Other media groups in Canada include: Torstar Torstar Corporation
1204-650: The Toronto and Vancouver 24 Hours to Torstar, in exchange for 22 community papers and the Ottawa and Winnipeg versions of Metro . Except for the Exeter Times-Advocate , St. Catharines Standard , Niagara Falls Review , Peterborough Examiner , and Welland Tribune , all acquired papers were to be closed. Torstar stated that it wanted to focus on building synergies within its existing markets served. The swaps effectively remove competition between
1247-422: The Toronto and Vancouver 24 Hours to Torstar, in exchange for 22 community papers and the Ottawa and Winnipeg versions of Metro . Except for the Exeter Times-Advocate , St. Catharines Standard , Niagara Falls Review , Peterborough Examiner , and Welland Tribune , all acquired papers will be closed. On June 26, 2018, Canadian Press reported that, by the end of August, Postmedia will be closing
1290-549: The acquisition of Torstar. Grant Vingoe, chair of the Ontario Securities Commission, had previously said in a letter to Andrea Horvath that the court was the appropriate venue to challenge the proposal. He further said that the test to be applied by the court was whether the process leading to the arrangement was fair and reasonable. On July 25, the Globe and Mail published an interview with Butch Folland,
1333-417: The company's inability to generate enough revenue or cost savings to pay quarterly dividends, which were suspended late in 2019. The suspension pushed the publicly traded B shares to what was then the lowest level since at least the late 1990s — 53 cents. Weeks prior to the announcement of the deal, Torstar had reported a $ 23.5-million loss for the first quarter of 2020. The new owners planned to make Torstar
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1376-520: The company’s community presence in the province. For Ontario, the closures included the Kingsville Reporter, Lakeshore News (Windsor-Essex area), LaSalle Post, Napanee Guide, Paris Star, Tecumseh Shoreline Week, and Tilbury Times. On February 17, 2022, Postmedia announced a definitive agreement to acquire Brunswick News Inc. (BNI). As well as several New Brunswick daily and weekly newspapers and "digital properties", BNI's assets included
1419-484: The coverage of federal politics in the National Post. In addition, it focuses on the coverage of federal and provincial politics in all of the dailies owned by Postmedia. In November 2019, Postmedia announced that 66% of its shares were now owned by Chatham Asset Management , an American media conglomerate which owns American Media, Inc. and is known for its close ties to the Republican party. The creation of
1462-481: The decline in revenue. Postmedia closed 15 community newspapers in Manitoba and Ontario’s Windsor-Essex area as the publications were no longer financially sustainable. The publications included Manitoba’s Altona Red River Valley Echo, Carman Valley Leader, Gimli Intertake Spectator, Morden Times, Selkirk Journal, Stonewall Argus & Teulon Times, Winkler Times, and The Prairie Farmer, leaving Portage La Prairie as
1505-520: The federal Competition Bureau on March 25, 2015, even though the company manages competitive papers in several Canadian cities; while the Sun Media chain owns numerous other papers, four of its five Sun -branded tabloids operate in markets where Postmedia already publishes a broadsheet competitor. Board chair Rod Phillips has cited the Vancouver market, in which the two main daily newspapers,
1548-463: The network received $ 9.9 million in government financial assistance in 2022. In the same year, Postmedia's operating income was only $ 13 million. In 2016, Paul Godfrey took a $ 900,000 bonus during a time when Postmedia laid off staff company-wide. CFO Doug Lamb received $ 450,000, COO Andrew MecLeod $ 425,000, legal and general counsel Jeffrey Harr $ 300,000, and National Post president Gordon Fisher $ 200,000. Unions representing Canadian journalists wanted
1591-666: The publishing properties of the former Canwest , with primary operations in English-language newspaper publishing, news gathering and Internet operations. It is best known for being the owner of the National Post and the Financial Post . The company is headquartered at Postmedia Place on Bloor Street in Toronto. The company's strategy has seen its publications invest greater resources in digital news gathering and distribution, including expanded websites and digital news apps for smartphones and tablets. This began with
1634-611: The purchase was designed to bolster the company's presence in digital media. As of June 2021, VerticalScope was taken public and through an IPO and is now publicly traded under the ticker FORA on the Toronto Stock Exchange. As part of that IPO, Torstar ceased owning VerticalScope. Launched in 2015, Toronto Star Touch was the company's app designed specifically for tablet computers. It was discontinued in late July 2017 after an investment totaling $ 20 million because of an inadequate volume of readers and advertisers and
1677-580: The sake of producing “ Regina Leader-Post sports pages, Arts fronts for the Montreal Gazette , editorial pages for the Vancouver Sun ”. In a 2020 article by The New York Times, it was reported journalists had attested that since Chatham Asset Management took over, Postmedia had centralized operations and cut staff so that its 106 newspapers were essentially clones of one another. On November 27, 2018, The Competition Bureau applied for
1720-521: The shareholder vote held on July 21, 99.7% of the class A shareholders favoured the NordStar offer as did 98.1% class B shareholders. However, only 81.9% of minority shareholders (not including the Voting Trust or Fairfax Financial) voted to accept the NordStar offer. On July 23, Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP, an international corporate law firm representing Torstar, brought forth a motion on behalf of Torstar before Ontario Superior Court Justice Gilmore to approve Torstar's plan of arrangement with respect to
1763-541: The two companies in the affected markets; the Competition Bureau stated that it would review the proposed deal. and in March 2018, formally accused the companies of using no-compete clauses to reduce competition in the newspaper industry, in violation of the Competition Act . On December 20, 2018, Torstar applied to the Ontario Superior Court for an order to keep documents seized from its offices by
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1806-659: Was also part of this division until publication of those titles ceased in 2019. The Community Brands division, Metroland Media Group , owns more than 70 weekly community papers as of late May 2020, the free magazine Canadian Immigrant , and other community-oriented properties. On July 29, 2015, Torstar announced its acquisition of a 56% majority stake in VerticalScope, a Toronto-based owner of online communities, for $ 200 million. VerticalScope operates numerous websites and internet discussion message boards dedicated to various topics. Torstar CEO David Holland explained that
1849-543: Was replaced by universal apps available for both Android and iOS smartphones and tablets. The following is a list of past presidents and CEOs of Torstar: Torstar owns a 20 per cent stake in the Victoria, British Columbia -based newspaper publisher Black Press . The company is also part owner of The Canadian Press . Torstar launched a weekly celebrity-based magazine called Scoop in 2005, which folded one year later. Between late 2005 and early 2011, Torstar also held
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