By Mondo Times editors
Boulder Colorado USA
Posted on November 25, 2009 at 3:11pm

The Toronto Star to Eliminate One-Fifth of Newsroom Staff

-- The Star will also outsource its copy editing to Pagemasters North America, Editor & Publisher reported on November 25, 2009:

"The reductions, amounting to about one-fifth of the staff, were outlined in a memo to employees by Star Editor in Chief Michael Cooke that was first reported by Joe Schneider of Bloomberg.

"At a time of unprecedented business nightmares facing the Star and our industry, and despite the many operational challenges associated with outsourcing, we believe there are sound business reasons for this proposal," Cooke wrote in the memo.

News of the outsourcing comes as the Star is offering buyouts and early retirement packages to all employees.

The union representing newsroom employees, the Southern Ontario Newspaper Guild, has 30 days to propose alternatives to the outsourcing, Cooke said.

"I realize what deskers especially, and all of you, want and need most is clarity," Cooke said in the memo. "This note is to share with you information about what has happened and what might happen." He added no layoffs will occur until January at the earliest."

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