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"Scugog's Community Newspaper of Choice" PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, July 18, 2000 - 3 Uxbridge Times-Journal among those sold Metroland acquires local community papers By Jeff Mitchell "Port Perry Star Media giant Metroland Publishing Inc. has acquired another local newspaper. The Uxbridge Times- Journal was purchased, along with several. other community newspapers in this area and in southwest- ern Ontario, when Metroland closed a deal to absorb Citizen's Communication Group (CCQ) last week. The deal becomes final July 25. It means that Uxbridge, which has been a two-paper town until now, will see both local media outlets owned by the same company. Metroland has been in the industry spotlight as of late, primarily for its vora- cious appetite. The com- pany, owned by Torstar Inc., whose flagship publi- cation is the Toronto Star, has been on a acquisition binge, buying up individ- ual newspapers and entire chains. The most recent acqui- sition made by the compa- ny in this area was the Bowmanville Canadian Statesman, which had been independently pub- lished by the James family for generations. Calls to officials at CCG went unanswered last week. But one staff mem- ber at a local paper which was part of the deal said area publishers were called to a meeting Thursday, at which they were informed of the news. Staff at the chain's offices found out about the turn of events later They've been told it will be business as usual for the short term. An employee at anoth- er local paper said staff took the news well, but are now anxiously awaiting fur- ther developments. "The main thing is the uncertainty," said the staffer, who noted it's somewhat ironic to have the paper acquired by the company with whom they've done battle for years. "It's like the Mets being bought by the Yankees." The Times-Journal had been an independently- owned paper for most of its 130-plus years of publi- cation. Other local papers acquired by Metroland last week were the Stouffville Sun, Brock Citizen, Georgina Advocate, Newmarket Town Crier, and papers in Bobcaygeon and Fenelon Falls. Other CCG papers in southwestern Ontario, as well as specialty publica- tions and CCG's printing plant in Newmarket, were also included in the deal. Wayne Zubeck, vice- president of finance and administration with Metroland, said employ- ees at the recently-pur- chased papers will contin- ue business as usual for now, while new group pub- lisher lan Proudfoot and his staff assess their oper- ations. He said plans are to continue publishing the CCG papers in their mar- kets for now. "To be quite honest, we don't buy papers to close them," said Mr. Zubeck. "We are planning on just continuing those papers; they'll go under our current publisher in that area, lan Proudfoot." As for staffing levels, time will tell, said Mr Zubeck. "Most of our papers are run efficiently," he said. "I don't think lan is going to go in and run those papers any !eaner than CCG." Mr. Proudfoot did not respond to a request for an interview. When Metroland assumed sole ownership of the market in Bowmanville, it kept the SeaDoo stolen from dock at Island marina Thieves made off with a 1997 Bombardier two- man SeaDoo, which was left parked at a dock at Goreski's resort on Scugog Island. Durham Police report that sometime between 6 p.m.on July 15and 10am on July 16 thieves stole the personal water craft. The craft, which is owned by a Toronto man, is valued at $4,000. In other police news, power tools worth an esti- mated $1,200 were stolen from an unlocked garage in the Caesarea area recently Police report that sometime between early June and July 15 thieves entered the Proutt Rd. garage and stole a quanti- ty of tools. Canadian Statesman flag, and publishes that paper, as well as its Clarington This Week, in the town. There was a previous Metroland presence in Uxbridge, the Tribune. The Tribune and the Times- Journal have been fighting for a share of the market since Metroland started its publication in the area several years ago. AEROSOLES | VISIT OUR 2 ne KangaROOS NEW LOCATIONS: Metroland publishes some 60 newspapers, as well as specialty publica- tions, in the GTA and else- where in Ontario. It owns The Star's rival, Port Perry This Week. CCG, which was previ- ously a branch of Michael Atkins' Laurentian Publishing chain, has been for sale for about a decade. It had been under the control of a bank prior to the sale to Metroland. The Uxbridge Times- Journal and its sister papers in the area were owned before that by pub- lisher Harry Stemp and his partner Bill Keyzers. The Port Perry Star con- tinues to be owned inde- pendently, by |]. Peter Hvidsten and Don MacLeod. That makes it a rare beast in the rapidly- changing corporate world that community publish- ing has become. Concentration of owner- ship has become more prevalent, with newspa- pers that have been pub- lished independently for years - sometimes for gen- erations of the same fami- lies - selling out to large chains. CRRA BN sale ends August 1, 2000 SY? BR@CIK'S NeOeReTeH = Fenelon Falls wecrs DPRE®OCKIS 168 - 178 Queen Street, Port Perry INE REAPS {olf Kids . " BR&GCK'S Bobcaygeon RANT RIVER Zs Columbia Sp NST BUA TL @ STH ARTI BRZ2(CKS onfoot™