Ottawa Sun staff laid off as Ottawa Citizen, Sun newsrooms merge

The Ottawa Citizen and Ottawa Sun newsrooms will merge, though Postmedia will continue to print two separate newspapers, thechain announced Tuesday amid about 90 layoffs in several major Canadian cities.

In Ottawa, 12Sunstaff members were laid off. Another round of buyouts will be offered to Citizen staff.

• Postmedia cuts 90 jobs, merges newsrooms in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary and Ottawa

Employees of the Sun moved into the Citizen building on Baxter Road months agoafter Postmedia acquired the Sun chain, but until now had been working in separate offices.

Both papers will now be produced by one set of staff.

"Journalism needs lots of voices. It needs lots of opinions and we keep losing those,"saidDebbie Cole,arepresentative of the Communications Workers of America union, which representsCitizeneditorial staff.

"I don't think it's good. I don't think the strategy of continuing to get rid of things thatprovide content is going to help in the long run but we'll see what happens. It's going to be strange in the next week or so as the two newsrooms try to work together."

Cole said the Citizen newsroom is already "pretty lean" after previous cuts and buyouts in recent years.

Sun newsroom 'slashed'

Sunstaff are represented by a different union, UniforLocal 87-M.

Sun staff who announced their layoffs publicly Tuesday include Corey Larocque, Chris Hofley, Mike Sutherland-Shaw, Tony Spears, Dani-Elle Dube, Don Wilcox, Keaton Robbinsand Matt Day.

Hofley, who has been with the Sun for nearly four years, said he expected a change after Postmedia acquired the chain last year but had hoped his job was not in jeopardy.

SuncolumnistSusan Sherringwas not laid off but said it was "very hard" to watch her colleagues go.

"The Ottawa Sun newsroom has really been slashed," she said.