Islanders worry about loss of ultra-local news as SaltWire files for creditor protection

With the parent company of The Guardian and the Journal Pioneer filing for creditor protection this week, readers of those P.E.I. publications say they're worried it could be the death blow for an already struggling local news market. 

SaltWire Network, the largest newspaper publisher in Atlantic Canada, said the move is a proactive attempt to reorganize the company's financials and prevent any future economic issues.

But some readers in Prince Edward Island are concerned the company's financial situation could lead to the loss of hyper-local news, something they don't feel they have enough of now.

"I just hope it's not one more loss," said Summerside resident Mary Lou Profitt.

"I don't listen to the international news any more than I have to. And I think coming from Prince Edward Island and knowing the Island way, it's important to Islanders to get your local good-news stories."

Back in 2017, the owners of Halifax's Chronicle Herald purchased 27 newspapers in Atlantic Canada to establish SaltWire. 

This week, court documents said SaltWire has assets of almost $33 million and more than $94 million in debt, with roughly a third of that owed to its lender, Fiera Private Debt. However, the company claims its debt is closer to $64 million, according to documents submitted by its lawyers.

SaltWire also owes more than $7 million in unpaid HST to the Canada Revenue Agency, while the Chronicle Herald owes $2.6 million for missed pension plan payments, the documents said.

Summerside residents worried about uncertain future of Journal Pioneer, Guardian

9 months ago

Duration 1:34

As the publisher of The Guardian and the Journal Pioneer newspapers files for creditor protection, people in Summerside are concerned about what comes next for the Island's two biggest print publications.

"It'll be a big loss if we happen to lose any of those papers," said Blue Shank Road resident Shirley McCourt. "I enjoy reading The Guardian online every day, and then I read the Journal [Pioneer] once a week on Wednesdays when it's published."

Summerside's David Olscamp remembers when the paper was a daily must-have for residents.

"I used to come in when I was 10 to 13 every day to pick up the Journal and sell them on the street, when everybody was buying them," he said in an interview at Samuel's Coffee Shop in Summerside. 

But now, Olscamp said even his own reliance on the paper is dwindling with the rise of news available on cell phones and social media.

"[It's] just one more thing that's disappearing on us," he said.

The future of the industry

SaltWire has hundreds of employees across Atlantic Canada. The unions that represent them say they're monitoring the situation closely to protect employees' jobs, salaries and pensions.

But for those who want to get into the journalism industry, it's tough news.

"It's already a delicate career field to get into, and it makes me wonder how many more journalism jobs will be available for graduates like myself," said Blaine Auld, a journalism and communications student at Holland College in Charlottetown.

Auld hopes SaltWire pulls through, but realizes this kind of thing has been happening in the journalism industry across Canada in recent years.

"It's a shame because there's so many stories out there that are waiting to be told and we should be supporting those jobs so we can continue telling those stories."

'There will always be a need for journalism'

Holland College journalism instructor Brad Works says he's telling students not to be fearful of getting into the industry.

"We've been hearing announcements like this for 20 years. People will always need information. The reality is it's an evolving industry," Works said. "People like to say it's dying, but as long as people need information that's reliable, there will always be a need for journalism. It will just take on a different form."

The news came as a shock for Works, but he said it wasn't a total surprise given the state of the media industry right now. He hopes the papers' hyper-local coverage will give them a reason to continue.

"The loyalty Islanders have towards those two publications, most other places would envy that relationship."

But Works — who also used to be managing editor of both The Guardian and the Journal Pioneer — thinks Islanders are especially loyal to their local news sources, including SaltWire.

"They're the only people that have reporters on the ground every day in Summerside, Yarmouth, Antigonish, Truro. No else does," he said. "So to lose that would be devastating.

"Ultimately, for everyone, it would be fewer Island stories being told, so it would be a shame to lose them." 

'The more public press, the better'

P.E.I. politicians have also spoken out about the announcement from SaltWire.

Summerside Coun. Bruce MacDougall worked at the Journal Pioneer for over 20 years.

"The value of a local newspaper is astronomical in a small town like this and we need our newspapers to be healthy," he told CBC.

MacDougall said he realizes the newspaper business has been "spiraling downwards" in recent years, so the news wasn't a total shock. He hopes the Journal Pioneer will find a way to pull through.

"If it was to disappear, I hope that there's some business leaders out there that can pick the ball up," he said. "It has to probably be a different format... but I think there's a market here for a newspaper of some kind."

In the provincial legislature on Tuesday, interim Liberal leader Hal Perry said he was concerned about the potential loss of The Guardian and the Journal Pioneer.

"They have provided touchstones of reliable, interesting information for many generations," he said. "Every person in this House grew up with those papers, and the struggles that they are currently facing are deeply unfortunate."

Perry said SaltWire should be a major topic among all Islanders right now, and that he doesn't like the idea of a province with fewer reliable news sources, adding "the more public press, the better."