SaltWire's money woes a sign of bigger problems in the newspaper business: experts
BNN Bloomberg
The recent decision by SaltWire Network Inc., Atlantic Canada's largest newspaper company, to seek protection from its creditors is another sign of the decline of the business and the growing threat to local journalism, experts said Tuesday.
"We're seeing a resurgence in a steady spate of closings and scaling back of local news operations," said April Lindgren, a professor with Toronto Metropolitan University's journalism program. "If anything, it's at an accelerated pace."
SaltWire publishes four daily newspapers: the Chronicle Herald in Halifax; the Cape Breton Post in Sydney, N.S.; the Guardian in Charlottetown and the Telegram in St. John’s, N.L. — as well as 14 weekly publications in every Atlantic province except New Brunswick.
On Monday, a private equity firm that has lent money to SaltWire filed documents in the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia to initiate insolvency proceedings against the Halifax-based company. The Fiera Private Debt Fund claims SaltWire owes the firm tens of millions of dollars after several years of mismanagement.
