Using “twinning tweets” to tell a story, consider here the path being followed by dear old Postmedia. This definitively corporate conglomerate failed to be relevant during the recent Canadian federal election; hit the headlines over awful and public squabbling with one of its stellar staffers and today we have a summary of their financial performance. And it matters because Postmedia controls most newspapers in Canada.
With falling revenue driving a $54-million fourth-quarter loss at Canada’s largest newspaper chain, Postmedia Network Canada Corp. is keeping its focus on cost-cutting as it hunts for new avenues to make money.
How long will it take for the people at the top of Postmedia to wake up to the chasm between their beliefs and those of their potential customers in a changing Canada? As people have been saying for quite some time now: “The old order changeth, and giveth way to the new”. The audience that is receptive to Postmedia’s narrow dogma is shrinking, and with it, their willingness to purchase access to those ideologically-driven messages. Perhaps the corporate bosses need to broaden their views and seek a variety of thought and opinion.
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Clearly there is a lot going on in Postmedia’s business, but tech platform transition won’t help if the content has little relevance. Who cares about the medium if the message is irrelevant? People have choices about sources, and the ability to recognise a monopoly and its abuse of power when they see one.
What I am seeing is the need for a culture change, in which monopolistic corporate influence is re-examined in the light of a changing world, of new priorities and of new influences. We all need help to keep track of and make sense of this world, and the old messages are not relevant any more, no matter how they are packaged.
I would like to see a larger sample size before concluding that publishing old ideologies is correlated with (never mind causally related to) declining newspaper sales.
Aren’t all newspapers dying? Or do I only think that because almost every newspaper in Canada is owned by Postmedia?
“How long will it take for the people at the top of Postmedia to wake up to the chasm between their beliefs and those of their customers in a changing Canada?”
That is a profoundly relevant question for a majority of the mainstream media which has existed for decades on the corporate model from the 19th Century.
The Globe and Mail editorial stance was only half as bad, but incongruously confused: they recommended voting Conservative — but without Harper. One letter writer wrote in response that that was akin to recommending the Rolling Stones without Mick Jagger.
The editors don’t seem to read the current news accounts published in their own papers.
PostMedia is correct, unlike the CBC, CTV or Toronto Star that believe the excessive spending is the way to glory.
Thank you to Stephen Harper & his party for working so very hard for a decade and making Canada stronger, wealthier and more desirable, in fact the #1 country in the world with the world’s wealthiest middle class !
Congratulations to the Liberals on their win of a Canadian version of Barack Obama. Good looking. Well spoken. Perfect family, too. 0 private sector experience. A public sector & career politicians. Exactly what we need in Canada now for “progressive change”: another Quebecer with almost no work experience to run this beautiful country with a $2T economy and a $250B+ budget.
Here is what this change will look like, not abruptly but bit by bit: the country will be poorer of with Trudeau at the helm: higher deficits, higher taxes, even more overpaid civil servants, far higher electricity bills with zero impact on “climate”, higher prices, higher mortgage rates and less net pay in your jeans. No pipeline to carry our #1 export to world markets and continued oil import from human rights kings like Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Iran. More $s for Pravda, .. I mean CBC.
Due to massive loan demand on the federal level interest rates will rise in Canada, making mortgages more expensive and home ownership more difficult. Can $ will decline further vs US $ and life will get more expensive due to higher import prices. Look to Ontario to see what will happen in Canada.
All this is labelled as change or progressive. Weird. Please explain it to me. What am I missing ?
I will be very surprised that proportional voting will be implemented in 4 years now that the Liberals have a majority with barely 40% of the popular vote..
Party now – pay later as we rack up billions in debt to pay for services we cannot afford. The classic Achilles heel of democracy was exposed tonight to buy votes.
[ At least rental demand will increase as home ownership will get even more difficult due to declining net wages and higher home ownership costs – so invest wisely !]
Still a great country, but not as good as the last ten years. Kinder, gentler but less safe, poorer and a lot more expensive to live in.
“What am I missing ?”
Generally speaking, a willingness to recognize when you are wrong, even when faced with overwhelming evidence.
What evidence of what ?
How about that Stephen Harper delivered Canada’s biggest yearly budget deficit during his term?
I would be careful of what one wishes for. Postmedia may gave an editorial slant, as newspapers have since the beginning and it may have erred on the Tory side. However a world without a free press would be a dangerous place.