'Toronto Sun' Editor Steps Down

By: Jennifer Saba Jim Jennings, editor in chief of Canada's Toronto Sun, stepped down today amid rumors of further staff cuts.

Jennings alerted his staff late this morning that he was leaving the paper. "I have elected to resign," he confirmed to E&P this afternoon, but declined to comment further on the motive behind his decision. He added, "I will be out of the building shortly."

Rumors have persisted, however, that staff cuts are on the way for the newspaper -- as well as a major reorganization of how its news is collected and distributed.

Kin-Man Lee, the Sun's publisher for the past six months (and previously CFO of parent company Sun Media) would neither confirm nor deny the rumors.

"It was Jim's decision and we respect that," Lee said, adding that the paper expects to name a new editor soon.

Although the Sun's representatives at the Southern Ontario Newsmedia Guild could not confirm that layoffs are on the way, its members are bracing for the worst. Under the current guidelines, management is required to sit down with the guild and discuss any impending reductions in staff.

The last time management dropped the axe last June, the guild was given little notice -- less than 24 hours prior to the announcement that the paper would have to slash 30 positions, said Maryanna Lewyckyj, unit chair and assistant business editor at the Sun.

The guild suspects management has not packed up the pink slips, and expects at least 40 more cuts based on comments made by executives during earnings calls this summer.

There are other signs of change to come, including what Lewyckyj dubbed a "call center approach to journalism."

The paper has ordered a new computer system expected to be in place by the end of September that allows everyone across the Sun Media's chain access to copy, she noted. Sun Media owns several Canadian dailies including the Ottawa Sun, the Calgary Sun, and the Edmonton Sun.

The move could mean that each paper will be responsible for specific sections feeding other papers in the chain with stories, Lewyckyj said, adding that the last round of cuts "gutted" the lifestyle department.

Morale at the paper has been bad over the past few weeks: "I couldn't say the staff was shocked," she said about Jennings' departure.

Toronto is a brutally competitive newspaper market, with at least four dailies including the Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail, and the National Post, not to mention the free papers nipping at their heels, Metro and 24 hours (owned by Sun Media).

According to the most recent data released by the Newspaper Audience Databank (NADbank), 11% of the market reads the Sun compared with the Star's market readership, which is 24%. Metro readership is 10% while 24 hours is 8%.

Lewyckyj said that the Sun's staff -- with roughly 150 union guild editorial members -- is already a skeleton crew compared to the competition. The Globe and Mail editorial guild counts about 300 members in its ranks and the Star has triple the staff of the Sun's, she said.

Lewyckyj added, "To build profit you have to concentrate on quality."