TORONTO The publisher and editor-in-chief of Canada's largest-circulation newspaper have resigned in a shake-up in the upper ranks of the Toronto Star, the daily reported Tuesday.
Publisher Michael Goldbloom and editor-in-chief Giles Gherson, who had run the paper since 2004, told the staff Monday they were stepping down. Other news media reported that Gherson told reporters and editors that it was not his decision to leave.
Jagoda Pike, who joined the Star's parent company in 1986 and has held a variety of senior positions within the organization, was appointed publisher of the Star and president of the newly formed Star Media Group.
The Star Media Group includes the Star, Torstar's interests in the Metro commuter newspaper, and Sing Tao Daily, Eye Weekly, Toronto Real Estate News, TMG-TV, Torstar Syndicate Services and Corporate Information Technology.
"Creating the Star Media Group with Jagoda as its leader will improve alignment among our various properties, simplify our newspaper business and reduce corporate costs," Robert Prichard, president and chief executive of parent company Torstar Corp., said in a statement.
Fred Kuntz, who has risen through the ranks within the Torstar group since starting as a copy editor while studying at Ryerson University's journalism school, was named editor-in-chief.
Goldbloom, a former publisher of the Montreal Gazette, faced a decline of newsstand sales at the paper, loss of classified advertising to the Internet, the increasing demands of advertisers and the emergence of alternative sources for news.
In its latest quarter, Torstar reported earnings fell 28 percent to C$25.6 million (US$22.5 million; €17.97 million) on revenue of C$390.3 million (US$343.1 million; €273.95 million) amid slack advertising at the Star, and a tumble at the romance fiction subsidiary Harlequin Enterprises Ltd., largely blamed on the robust Canadian dollar.
Torstar had a total work force of 6,825 full-time employees at the end of last year.
The Star sells 443,000 copies on weekdays and 643,000 on Saturdays, according to its corporate headquarters.
Its largest competitor is The Globe and Mail, but also is pressed for circulation by the National Post and Toronto Sun.
