Thursday, November 13, 2008

CanWest: Oh the Times They Are A-Changin'

Seems CanWest has fallen on tough times, or at least their
soon-to-be former employees have. Around 560 of them are
getting the axe: 210 in broadcasting and 350 in publishing,
which is 5 per cent ofCanWest's 10,478 employees in Canada.

CanWest axes 560 jobs
Globe & Mail. November 12, 2008.

TORONTO — Burdened by debt, CanWest Global
Communications Corp. is cutting 560 jobs from its operations,
hoping to buy itself breathing room to withstand an economic
downturn.

Canada's largest media company, which owns the Global
Television network and daily newspapers in major cities across
the country, is hoping to cut $61-million from its annual
operating costs.

In recent months, the firm has moved closer to breaching one of
its bank covenants amid a slumping economy that is sapping
advertising dollars from the industry.

Canwest cuts 560 jobs Canada-wide
CBC.

Here's links to Investor Relations that will detail a bit more
about the pertinent details:

3rd Quarter Results News Release 165K
3rd Quarter 2008 Interim Report to Shareholders:
Canwest Global Communications Corp. 1,710K

Wonder what the Communications, Energy and
Paperworkers Union (
CEP) is going to have to say about
all of this?

I have a suggestion for cost cutting measures for
CanWest:

STOP SUING PEOPLE & the CANADIAN GOVERNMENT!

Do you really not see the painful irony in filing civil lawsuits against
free speech activists while launching the multi-million dollar
David Asper Centre for Constitutional Rights

That $7.5 million donated might have been used in other ways.
It's all rather confusing and one might wonder if the donated funds
are going to file, or fight, constitutional challenges?

This is a step in the right direction, CanWest needs to do
more of this:

Canwest retreats - drops suit against Mordecai
Briemberg

The campaign will continue until Canwest also abandons
legal action against Gordon Murray and Carel Moiseiwitsch,
who produced the parody in June 2007 that satirized Canwest’s
well-known anti-Palestinian and pro-Israel bias. Canwest’s
founder, Izzy Asper, described the media conglomerate in
2003 as “the strongest supporter of Israel in Canada.”

CanWest sues over Vancouver Sun parody
The Information Policy Blog

CanWest huffs and puffs while free speech burns
Straight.com

CanWest Global Attacks Drug Ad Laws
Posted in February 1st, 2008 by Rob Wipond

Big Pharma isn’t the one fighting to legalize pushing
amphetamines during Degrassi reruns; it’s CanWest Global
(owners of the Victoria Times-Colonist, Global TV, CH TV,
Vancouver Sun, Vancouver Province, Dose, Metro etc).

CanWest has launched a lawsuit under the Charter
of Rights and Freedoms, trying to tear down
Canada’s limits on pharmaceutical advertising.

Currently, prescription drugs can be advertised to the
general public in two ways: the ad names a drug without
describing what it treats, or the ad discusses an illness
without mentioning a drug name.

Update October 2008: The case of CanWest
Mediaworks vs Canada is scheduled to resume
hearings in January, 2009.

Go here to view a video for more information.
Media Blackout: CanWest Global Attacks Drug
Ad Laws

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