TorStar has announced that it will cease publishing print editions of its StarMetro daily commuter papers in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto and Halifax as of Dec. 20, as part of wider company layoffs. In a memo to staff, TorStar President John Boynton said that while StarMetro newspapers had been “editorial successes,” print advertising volumes had declined significantly in recent months “to levels below those required to make them commercially viable.” The move makes TorStar a now pure digital play outside of Ontario. Unifor says a total of 121 staff will lose their jobs between the 73 impacted at the five StarMetro papers; the elimination of pagination and copy centre jobs at the TorStar copy centre, located at the Hamilton Spectator; several advertising-related positions at the Spectator and Waterloo Record, in addition to some staff at the Toronto Star and several smaller Metroland community papers in the GTA. Read more here.

FEATURE: The Game Awards, set to be livestreamed on more than 45 platforms Dec. 12, will draw a Canadian audience of roughly two million. Broadcast Dialogue Creative Director Christian Lind gives us five reasons why The Game Awards are the future of awards shows. Read more here.

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