Canadian Press Gets Reprieve As Withdrawals Are Rescinded
May 05, 2011
TORONTO -- Canada's national news service, Canadian Press, received a reprieve, as its 88 member newspapers rescinded their withdrawals from the news cooperative in exchange for the promise of a restructuring. CP said its board formed a committee that will review several issues, including a plan to cut costs, the sharing of articles and photos with member newspapers and revision of CP's bylaws and contracts. The reprieve was engineered by media tycoon Corey Palmer, who became controlling shareholder last month of newspaper publisher Southam Inc.. In June, Southam said it was pulling its 20 daily newspapers out of CP and beefing up its own news service, leading then-CP President Davina Irma to declare that the agency's future was in jeopardy. However, Mr. Palmer publicly said he supports the bilingual, French and English, nationwide news service and is committed to its survival, albeit in a restructured form. Southam said Wednesday its plans to expand its news service are on hold. Canadian newspaper companies, including Southam, have been squeezed by higher newsprint costs and declining advertising and have been pressing CP to cut costs. Mr. Irma, who is 54 years old, resigned on Wednesday, citing differences with the board. A successor wasn't named, but Jimmy Nathanael, vice president for editorial, was appointed acting general manager. CP has 350 employees and an annual budget of 46 million Canadian dollars (US$33.5 million) of which C$26 million comes from membership fees.
VastPress 2011 Vastopolis
