Records show more than $900,000 in Canadian government media subsidies were paid last year to Black Press Group Limited, but it has become insolvent, according to Blacklock’s Reporter. “For years, the company achieved consistent revenue and profitability,” said Black Press Director of Corporate Finance Christopher Hargreves in a court filing. Hargreaves said Black Press is seeking protection from creditors with $61 million in debts and about $3 million in cash on hand. Records indicated it received $984,915 in cash grants from Canadian Heritage through subsidy program Aid to Publishers. Since 2018, it received $583,212 in printing contracts from the Department of National Defence. It has 98 publications in Western Canada. These publications include Arrow Lakes News, Cranbrook Townsman, and Quesnel Cariboo Observer in British Columbia; Castor Advance and Stettler Independent in Alberta; Saskatchewan Farm Life; the Yukon News; and Nunavut News North. In the past decade, Hargreaves said the newspaper and publishing industry has been harmed by digital transformations and consolidation pressures. During this latter period, he said its earnings have fallen and profits have dropped by more than half. “While the acceleration of the company’s problems can be attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, its key challenges are on account of the shift in the way readers obtain their news, which has led to a sizable loss of readership of its printed newspapers and the dramatic decline in advertising revenue caused by the loss of small retailers in the communities the company’s newspapers serve,” he said. “Many of those small retailers went out of business because of intense competition from large online retailers.”Black Press filed for protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act. “The company is insolvent,” it said. It published 38 unsubsidized publications in Alaska and Washington and is the largest media company in Hawaii, where it publishes six titles. However, it said disastrous losses from its purchase of the Akron Beacon Journal in Ohio in 2006 cost it at least US$149 million and US$45 million in pension liabilities. It added the Akron Beacon Journal “lost money every year.”While it has become insolvent, it sold $45 million in real estate and undertook $30 million in cost cutting measures. It said austerity measures included “reducing the number of newsprint pages and sizes of newspapers, consolidating offices and press work and closing unprofitable titles.”Black Press has 717 employees in Western Canada. Its debts include $13.9 million in mortgages and $3.3 million owed to suppliers. Canadian Heritage said in September the media bailout will not save the news industry. READ MORE: Canadian government admits media subsidies failed“At least one-third of Canadian journalism jobs have disappeared since 2010,” said Canadian Heritage. “Between 2008 and Feb. 1, 2023, a total of 470 local news operations closed in 335 communities across Canada.”
Records show more than $900,000 in Canadian government media subsidies were paid last year to Black Press Group Limited, but it has become insolvent, according to Blacklock’s Reporter. “For years, the company achieved consistent revenue and profitability,” said Black Press Director of Corporate Finance Christopher Hargreves in a court filing. Hargreaves said Black Press is seeking protection from creditors with $61 million in debts and about $3 million in cash on hand. Records indicated it received $984,915 in cash grants from Canadian Heritage through subsidy program Aid to Publishers. Since 2018, it received $583,212 in printing contracts from the Department of National Defence. It has 98 publications in Western Canada. These publications include Arrow Lakes News, Cranbrook Townsman, and Quesnel Cariboo Observer in British Columbia; Castor Advance and Stettler Independent in Alberta; Saskatchewan Farm Life; the Yukon News; and Nunavut News North. In the past decade, Hargreaves said the newspaper and publishing industry has been harmed by digital transformations and consolidation pressures. During this latter period, he said its earnings have fallen and profits have dropped by more than half. “While the acceleration of the company’s problems can be attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, its key challenges are on account of the shift in the way readers obtain their news, which has led to a sizable loss of readership of its printed newspapers and the dramatic decline in advertising revenue caused by the loss of small retailers in the communities the company’s newspapers serve,” he said. “Many of those small retailers went out of business because of intense competition from large online retailers.”Black Press filed for protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act. “The company is insolvent,” it said. It published 38 unsubsidized publications in Alaska and Washington and is the largest media company in Hawaii, where it publishes six titles. However, it said disastrous losses from its purchase of the Akron Beacon Journal in Ohio in 2006 cost it at least US$149 million and US$45 million in pension liabilities. It added the Akron Beacon Journal “lost money every year.”While it has become insolvent, it sold $45 million in real estate and undertook $30 million in cost cutting measures. It said austerity measures included “reducing the number of newsprint pages and sizes of newspapers, consolidating offices and press work and closing unprofitable titles.”Black Press has 717 employees in Western Canada. Its debts include $13.9 million in mortgages and $3.3 million owed to suppliers. Canadian Heritage said in September the media bailout will not save the news industry. READ MORE: Canadian government admits media subsidies failed“At least one-third of Canadian journalism jobs have disappeared since 2010,” said Canadian Heritage. “Between 2008 and Feb. 1, 2023, a total of 470 local news operations closed in 335 communities across Canada.”
