Whitehorse, YT – The Yukon Star, a daily online and weekly print newspaper that seeks to fill the void created by the closure of the Whitehorse Star, has announced the immediate cessation of publishing operations due to insufficient revenue.
Editor Max Fraser expressed regret at the situation, saying that while the long-term prospects for the three-month-old publication were promising, the immediate need for financial stability was not met.
Yukon Star employees, many of whom had previously worked at the Whitehorse Star, were informed of the decision and laid off on Friday afternoon.
“The staff were all pretty surprised. It was a sudden announcement and I wish it had been different, but the numbers were very clear when we looked at the financials,” Fraser said. “That was the last payday we could afford and we wouldn’t be able to afford another one.”
Fraser says Yukon Star started out like a brand new company, meaning they needed a lot of start-up capital they didn’t have, and while revenues were increasing, they weren’t growing at a sustainable pace.
According to a press release on August 25, the decision was “regrettable but unavoidable.”
The newspaper’s premises will be vacated by the end of the weekend and the website will be shut down shortly.
All other business matters, including debt collection and financial settlement, will be completed in the next few weeks.
The Yukon Star recently welcomed positive feedback from its readers and thanked everyone who supported it.
When Fraser originally came up with the idea to save the Star, he was mourning the loss of the Whitehorse Star. Now, as the Yukon Star closes its doors, Fraser expresses concern for the future of local news.
“The saddest thing is that there will be less journalism, not more, as a result, because journalists will hold governments and those in power to account,” Fraser said. “The fewer journalists there are, the less accountability there is – that is a direct consequence.”
