Unifor says it’s deeply concerned about the announcement of Glacier Media’s digital community newspaper closures affecting the jobs of Unifor members at Local 2000, in the communities of Burnaby, New Westminster, Port Moody, Anmore Village, Belcarra Village, Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam.
“In these troubling economic and political times, we cannot let democracy dry up as more news deserts surface in Canada,” said Unifor National President Lana Payne. “News coverage begins at the local level and closures eliminate community coverage at a time when we need journalists to tell stories that connect us and hold the powerful to account.”
Glacier Media has announced the upcoming closure of three Metro Vancouver community news websites – Burnaby Now and the New Westminster Record will close no later than April 21 and Tri-City News will close by May 21. The company ceased print publications at Tri-City, Burnaby NOW and the New Westminster Record in August 2023.
In a press release, Unifor Local 2000 said its members work as reporters, layout artists, ad builders and sales representatives at these three media outlets. Glacier Media said it keeps all non-union websites open and continues to print the non-union North Shore News and Delta Optimist, while shutting down unionized websites, the press release notes.
In a town hall meeting in November 2024, the media company told employees it would rebrand and revise its operations in 2025. The company rebranded its media operations under Lodestar Media in February 2025. However, after the closure announcement on Feb. 21, 2025, union members were uninvited to the rebrand launch planned for Feb. 26.
“Unifor is concerned that local news will be decimated in British Columbia’s New Westminster, Burnaby and tri-city areas including the Villages of Anmore and Belcarra. These closures mean five city councils will be left without coverage after these papers close their websites,” Unifor said in a press release.
“These communities have been well served by the members of Local 2000 since the early 1980s and before that, as far back as 1859,” said Unifor Local 2000 President Brian Gibson. “I am concerned that the residents of these communities will no longer be receiving the local news they need in order to participate in democracy and stay informed on what is happening in their communities ”
Unifor represents more than 10,000 media workers, including journalists in the broadcast and print news industry.
Comments
NOTE: Tri-City Local News welcomes your opinions and comments. We do not allow personal attacks, offensive language or unsubstantiated allegations. We reserve the right to edit comments for length, style, legality and taste and reproduce them in print, electronic or otherwise. For further information, please contact the editor or publisher, or see our Terms and Conditions.