Postmedia shakes up western leadership

Prairie papers get overhaul at top after announcing layoffs

Postmedia is shaking up its editorial leadership at its newspapers across the Prairies.

The company announced about 11 per cent of Postmedia’s roughly 650 journalists will be cut as one of the largest media companies in Canada prepares for an “extremely turbulent stretch,” the Star reported Monday.

Effective immediately, Lorne Motley, vice-president of Editorial West, will serve as regional editorin-chief of the Calgary Herald, Calgary Sun, Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, the Saskatoon Star Phoenix, the Regina Leader Post and the Winnipeg Sun.

Reporting to Motley in Calgary will be deputy editor Monica Zurowski, managing editor Dave Breakenridge in Edmonton, managing editor Ashley Trask in Saskatoon and manager editor Mark Hamm in Winnipeg.

Colin McGarrigle will move from his current role as editor-in-chief in Edmonton to managing editor at the Leader Post. He will also report to Motley and will assume his new role on Jan. 30. He is set to move to Regina later this week.

Gerry Nott, editorial senior vicepresident, also said Russell Wangersky would be leaving the company.

Postmedia Network Canada Corp. posted a net loss of $15.9 million in the quarter ending Nov. 30, 2022, compared to $4.4 million in the same period the previous year.

Last week, it announced that 12 of its community newspapers in Alberta would move to digital-only and that its printing operations elsewhere would be outsourced.

Postmedia also recently stopped printing Monday editions of the Calgary Herald, Calgary Sun, Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, Ottawa Citizen, Ottawa Sun, Montreal Gazette and the Sun and the Province in Vancouver.

Postmedia declined to provide a comment.