Sun Media announces 200 layoffs

In the third round of layoffs in the past 13 months, Sun Media Corp. is eliminating 200 positions across the newspaper chain.

About a quarter of the jobs will be cut from editorial, in what the corporation called a “response to the impact of digital.”

As readers turn to digital media, newspapers have had difficulty attracting sufficient ad revenue to support their editorial operations. Digital ads are generally not as lucrative as print ads.

Sun Media, a unit of Quebecor Media, announced the closure of 11 newspapers and the elimination of 360 jobs in July. In November of last year, it laid off 500 people.

"It is very tough to announce job cuts," Julie Tremblay, Sun Media CEO, said in a news release Wednesday.

"But as distressing as they are for the employees involved, these restructuring initiatives are necessary to maintain our leading position and ensure the corporation's sustainability.”

Sun Media continues to operate three free dailies and 36 paid circulation newspapers, as well as internet portal Canoe.ca.

Quebecor lost $167.8 million ($1.36 per basic share) in the third quarter of 2013, compared with net income attributable to shareholders of $17.1 million ($0.14 per basic share) in the same period of 2012.

Its news media division had undergone significant restructuring with the aim of “cost containment,” it said in its report to shareholders.