Postmedia confirms plans to close 163-year-old Pembroke Daily Observer

The Canadian Press</span>
Published Tuesday, June 26, 2018 1:53PM EDT
Last Updated Tuesday, June 26, 2018 1:54PM EDT

TORONTO -- Postmedia Network Inc. says it will close the Pembroke Daily Observer next month, retiring a 163-year-old publication in the small city about 150 kilometres northwest of Ottawa.

The Toronto-based publisher says the last edition will be published on July 28.

Postmedia spokeswoman Phyllise Gelfand says four roles are being eliminated at the Daily Observer but the company will continue to have a web news presence and publish the weekly Pembroke News. She didn't say why it is closing.

Reporter and local Unifor union leader Tina Peplinskie says in a statement the closing means Pembroke "will lose a large part of its identity."

Last November, Torstar Corp. and Postmedia announced they had exchanged a total of 41 publications, mostly in Ontario, and would stop publishing most of them, resulting in 291 job losses.

Unifor president Paul Morse says Canadian newspapers are in rough shape because of declining print advertising while foreign-owned tech companies Google and Facebook are benefiting from Canadian digital advertising.

"We have asked the federal government to help newspapers transition to new and economically sustainable ways to deliver local news but have been met with essentially empty platitudes," he said.

"Now, another historic Canadian newspaper will die, and proud Pembroke will face the threat of becoming a local news desert."

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