Wall Street Journal closes Canada bureaus

The Wall Street Journal is closing its bureaus in Canada, which include Montreal, Toronto and Calgary and include six staff members, according to Editor & Publisher.

E&P reporter Jennifer Saba wrote, “Dow Jones spokesman Robert Christie wrote in an e-mail to E&P that the Journal will continue to cover ‘Canadian international affairs, politics, and economics’ by using about 20 employees with Dow Jones Newswires who are based in Canada. Journal reporters in Chicago, New York, and Washington ‘who already have contact with the Canadian companies on their beat’ will pick up the slack.

“But staffers and union representatives are skeptical that the Journal can adequately cover Canada without the additional manpower.

“‘This means that Canada is the only G7 nation where the Journal doesn’t have a presence,’ said Steve Yount, president of the Independent Association of Publisher’s Employees (IAPE) and a news anchor on Wall Street Journal radio. ‘The message you send to Canada is we just don’t care.’

“Management has not made a formal announcement to the Journal newsroom, according to union officials who learned of the situation this week. The union covers Dow Jones employees in Canada.”

Read more here. A statement from the union can be found here.