Pink Triangle Press is shutting down the print editions of its Xtra newspapers in Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver, starting next month.
The publisher of newspapers and online sites aimed at gay and lesbian audiences said Wednesday that the move will result in the loss of 12 full-time jobs at the company's publishing and administration divisions. Fifty-seven workers will still remain on the job.
Pink Triangle said the closure will allow it to focus on its website DailyXtra.com and gay adult website Squirt.org and comes after a nearly one-year internal review of the business that began in the spring of 2014.
"For most of the past year, our management team worked with external advisers to arrive at an answer to this question: How can we best use our resources to continue to promote sexual freedom in a financially sustainable manner?" Ken Popert, executive director and president of Pink Triangle Press, said in a statement.
"We have concluded that a complete transition to digital media offers the best opportunity to continue to engage our audiences over the long term."
The last issue of Xtra Vancouver and Xtra Ottawa will be published Feb. 12. The last Toronto edition will be out Feb. 19.
Xtra Toronto, the company's oldest publication, was launched in February 1984.
This isn't the first time Pink Triangle Press has shut down one of its publications. In the spring of 2013, it ceased production of its free, bi-weekly gay magazine, Fab. The closure resulted in the loss of nine jobs in Toronto.
Media companies have been struggling for the past few years to make up for declining ad revenue as more readers go online for their news.
Last November, Torstar Corp. (TSX:TS.B) shuttered the digital operations at its Metro brand in seven cities where it no longer produces free daily newspapers. The closure affected the Metro websites in Hamilton, Kitchener, Windsor and London, Ont., as well as Regina, Saskatoon and Victoria.
In July 2014, Torstar also closed down the award-winning Toronto weekly, The Grid, after three years of publication, blaming low revenue.
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