Contrary to an erroneous report on CHAT News' evening broadcast Friday, the Medicine Hat is not downsizing its staff. We are moving into a smaller building we already owned and have sold our Dunmore Road location.--NEWS FILE PHOTO
Well, this is awkward.
According to a CHAT News report on its evening broadcast, the Medicine Hat News has made quite the announcement.
“The Medicine Hat News has recently announced they’re moving to a smaller building and laying off some staff. Let’s hope the Medicine Hat News will continue to publish for years to come.”
It was a short report following another story. but it will have no doubt created some concern among our readers.
First, what CHAT got right. Yes, the News is going to be moving into a smaller building in the fall. It is a central-Medicine Hat location which we already owned, and we are currently in the process of renovating our new space.
We are not outside those majorly affected by the pandemic, and since the spring of 2020 we have printed our newspaper on our press at our sister paper in Lethbridge, so we no longer require the size of building we once had.
We have sold our longtime location to a buyer which does not wish to comment further yet, but our focus is on making our new location work for our staff, and for our readers.
Now, what CHAT got wrong.
First, we didn’t announce anything about anything. If we had, we probably would have used the local newspaper, and we will still provide all the details our readers need in a few weeks when we planned to make the actual announcement in the first place.
Second, we are absolutely not laying off staff, and any reports of otherwise are erroneous at best. In fact, we are actively hiring for our newsroom and ad sales team as we speak, and continue to have the largest newsroom in the city now.
We are a smaller team currently than we want to be, but having coworkers move on to other opportunities is a far cry from being made to leave.
“While local and regional news coverage has faced challenges in recent years, the News is committed to providing local and southern Alberta news to our loyal readers and community,” said Ryan McAdams, group publisher for Southern Alberta Newspapers.
In the meantime, we will continue to be your trusted source for local news, not rumours.
