Well, that was fast.
On Tuesday, Transcontinental Media of Montreal announced that it was shutting down the Halifax Daily News, effective immediately. By the next day, the newspaper’s home page had already been relaunched as Metro Halifax, one of the expanding network of free Metro dailies being stamped out by Metro International S.A.
The Daily news just couldn’t continue, said Marc-Noel Ouellette, senior vice-president at Transcontinental. “It was costing a fortune.” The Daily News’ tiny circulation 20,000 put it at a competitive disadvantage against the much larger Chronicle Herald.
The shutdown means that 92 people will lose their jobs, although some 35 of them are expected to find employment with Transcontinental or the new daily.
Metro International has been busy bringing the McPaper concept to local markets. Its Metro dailies sport a common look and feel and are designed to be read in 20-25 minutes. More than 100 Metros are being published around the world right now and, if the current pace of shutdowns continues, there’ll be no lack of new market opportunities for the owner.
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