FOG BLOG MEDIA LOG: BELL TO CLOSE FOREIGN NEWS BUREAUS , 9 RADIO STATIONS , 1300 TO LOSE JOBS!
BCE laying off 1,300 people, closing foreign news bureaus and 9 radio stations across Canada
6 per cent of media division's workforce being let go BCE Inc. is cutting 1,300 positions — about three per cent of its workforce — and closing or selling nine radio stations as the company plans to significantly adapt how it delivers the news.
The eliminated positions include a six per cent cut at Bell Media.
Bell says the job cuts are in response to unfavourable public policy and regulatory conditions that it can no longer wait out.
The plan entails "moving to a single newsroom approach across brands, allowing for greater collaboration and efficiency," said Richard Gray, vice-president of news at Bell Media, in an internal memo distributed to staff Wednesday morning and provided to The Canadian Press.
Bell executive vice-president Robert Malcolmson says the company's media branch can't afford to continue operating with its various brands such as CTV National News, BNN, CP24, its local TV news stations and radio channels operating independently of one another.
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"It's a consolidation of news gathering, news delivery," Malcolmson said.
"We are combining the news production function in a horizontal way so that you have one common platform that is serving news to the relevant outlet from one management team."
Set to shutter are:
Winnipeg's Funny 1290;
Calgary's Funny 1060;
Edmonton's TSN 1260 Radio;
Vancouver's BNN Bloomberg Radio 1410;
Vancouver's Funny 1040;
London's NewsTalk 1290.
Bell Media is also selling Hamilton's AM Radio 1150 and AM 820, as well as Windsor's AM 580, to an undisclosed third party, subject to CRTC approval.
Management positions are being slashed by six per cent, according to the company. There will also be 20 per cent fewer executive roles in the company compared with 2020.
An internal company memo on Wednesday says staff affected by cuts would be informed this week.
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Around 30 per cent of the positions being eliminated are current vacancies that won't be filled.
"It's devastating news, said Unifor media director Randy Kitt in an interview with CBC News. "Those are real jobs and real people that are tied to that."
He says the cuts affect unionized and non-unionized employees and will leave Canadians less informed.
"News and local news is essential to our democracy," he said. "They won't know what's happening at city hall. They won't know what's happening in the halls of government."
In an open letter, Bell Canada president and CEO Mirko Bibic says Bell Canada expects to lose more than $250 million in legacy phone revenues per year, while its news operations incur $40 million in annual operating losses.
"To succeed in today's challenging economic, regulatory and competitive environment and be ready for what comes next, we need to accelerate our shift away from how telecom and media companies have operated in the past," Bibic said.
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