Guelph Mercury staff to work to the last day to put paper out

Staff at the Guelph Mercury were told they don't have to continue working this week after news came that Friday's print edition is the last ever, but one long-time reporter said he and his colleagues will carry on.

"Newspapers, it's not just a job for the people who have worked there," Tony Saxon, a 20-year veteran with the Mercury, told The Morning Edition host Craig Norris Tuesday, a day after staff were told the print edition would no longer be published after this week.

An email to CBC News from the paper's publisher, Donna Luelo, confirmed that all of the paper's staff, 23 full-time and 3 part-time positions will be cut. The move effectively closes the paper, which operated in Guelph for 149 years.

• Guelph Mercury stops publishing print edition, all staff cut

"We love what we do and we enjoy each other and we enjoy each other's company so every one of us plans on finishing out the week and finishing out the paper," Saxon said.

"Obviously there's a grey cloud, but we're professionals and … we care and we want to see this thing through. It's hard, it's going to be hard, and I think Friday morning is going to be the hardest."

Managing editor Phil Andrews confirmed Tuesday staff have said they want to see the last edition put to bed Thursday night.

"My whole team, they've signed on and we're going to do our best to have a special last paper," he said.

'Sudden and shocking'

Saxon, a photographer and sports reporter who covered the Ontario Hockey League and the Guelph Storm hockey club for the newspaper, said he was off on Monday and he received the news the paper was closing when a colleague at The Record in Kitchener messaged him to offer his condolences. He then checked his work email and saw a memo there.

"It was sudden and shocking," he said.

My whole team, they've signed on and we're going to do our best to have a special last paper.- Phil Andrews, managing editor of the Guelph Mercury

The community also reacted strongly after hearing the news. 

"The loss of the @guelphmercury is the loss of the record of our (city's) history. 149 years of publishing ends Friday," the account Vintage Guelph tweeted.

Scott Tracey, a columnist for the newspaper that is a former reporter, tweeted he was "absolutely gutted" by the news.

"I hope once people understand the true impact of today's @guelphmercury announcement there will be suitable outrage in the Guelph community," he wrote.

The closure even caught the attention of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Trudeau also said his thoughts were with Rogers Media employees who were facing layoffs.

"This is a challenging time for journalists telling Canada's stories," Trudeau tweeted.

Guelph mayor reacts

Guelph Mayor Cam Guthrie said the loss of the paper's print edition is shocking. 

"We're already a medium-sized city that I thought would support a newspaper like the Mercury," he said in an interview with CBC News Tuesday. "We're a growing a city. So, I would have only have thought that the demand for such a paper would be growing as the city grows."

The paper, which has operated in the city since 1867 is part of the community, Guthrie said.

"Sometimes newspapers aren't the best of friends with politicians and I always found them to be very fair whenever they were covering City Hall and I think the community is going to feel it, too," he said. "They weren't just reporting news, they were part of our community." 

Website will remain

It is unclear what will happen next for the Mercury.

Luelo said the "intention is to preserve the website," but it's unclear who would write the local news to fill the site. All eight editorial staff members were let go.

On the popular 59 Carden St. blog, city council reporter Joanne Shuttleworth wrote, "It is not clear if there will still be an online presence, but it won't be (generated) here if there is."

On the blog, Shuttleworth thanked Guelph residents for getting involved in commenting on the blog, which kept people up-to-date on city issues.

"You are bright, engaged and caring citizens and you have a great passion for this city," she wrote.

When it comes to what he will miss, Saxon said, like Shuttleworth, it is the people.

"You don't work in newspapers and just see it purely as a job, it becomes part of you, it becomes part of who you are and your emotions. You live it. You don't just go to work and punch in and punch out. You're taking calls at home, you're phoning people, you're involved in the community, you're running into people all the time," he said. "It's hard to go out and not run into someone and talk about something that's going on either with the Guelph Storm or something else that was in the paper. But that's great, it's why we do it."