It wasn’t their first rodeo, but it could be the last Calgary Stampede parade for Calgary’s local Global news outlet.In an exclusive interview with an insider who is no longer employed with the company whose identity is being withheld, staffers were warned by company brass on a company-wide conference call Wednesday to expect more ‘changes’ — including job cuts — when the company hits its debt wall at the end of August.“There were comments made. I don't know if this was just a manager misspeaking, but it was the comment was made along the lines of, ‘you know, this Stampede, it might be our last,” they said.“Now, I don't know if that meant this will be our last parade that we're producing, right? Or if it's the last time Global as a brand will be covering Stampede, I don't know what the context was, or if it was just nothing. Who knows?”.Earlier this week parent company Corus Entertainment announced brutal financial results that were dripping with red ink, and warned it won’t be able to meet its debt covenants when they come due in the fourth quarter — despite cutting 800 positions or more than a quarter of its workforce.Even with the departure of dozens of journalists, including long-time anchor Linda Olsen, not one manager in Calgary was let go.Corus, which was once worth more than $2 billion, had a market capitalization of about $23 million and its shares have lost more than 98% of their value in the last year alone.On Thursday, its shares fell to their lowest level ever, at 11 cents. After factoring $1.1 billion of looming debt, analysts said the company is essentially worthless.In a note to clients Monday, TD Cowen analysts Vince Valentini and Natale Puccia said the company’s debt-to-earnings ratio was likely to exceed 6 times by the end of its 2025 fiscal year..“We do not view this as a sustainable capital structure, so we expect the company to pursue a negotiated recapitalization with its banks and bondholders in the near-term,” they wrote.In any event, the insider described a “brutal” working environment with colleagues living in fear of reprisals for doing their jobs. Relations with management and staff, which is unionized, have become increasingly adversarial as long-time journalists either quit or are shown the door.“If you speak that publicly, like in a meeting or something where other people can hear, then you're targeted. You're the problem.”Meanwhile, the quality of journalism and local news coverage continues to suffer, she said. “We simply don’t have the resources or infrastructure to produce live news anymore.”.And while Corus publicly blames declining ad revenue and programming for the losses, behind closed doors they’re blaming independent news outlets like The Western Standard for their woes.And in fact, The Western Standard came up a staff meeting when anonymous sources leaked internal company memos and audio recordings detailing “significant cuts” to its national and online broadcast teams.As of Thursday, its final online news editor said she was fired. Meaning it essentially won’t be updating its website with a human being — at least not in Calgary, and not on weekends.“Yes, they are quite annoyed that somebody is speaking to The Western Standard because they don't see you guys as, like a legitimate media source. So the fact that they're that you guys are scooping like places like CTV or CBC… that that really gets them annoyed.”.On its website, the company says it has three managers in charge of Diversity Equity and Inclusion. No word if they still have their jobs.There are no DEI managers in Calgary, per se, but the insider says “they certainly love to force diversity down our throat. If you look at the board of directors, there's one glaring example of somebody placed in the position for what seems to be only diversity. Because she certainly doesn't have a background in television.“
