UPDATE: News employees at RadioNL in Kamloops have been fired

Half the staff at a news-talk radio station's newsroom in Kamloops were fired Tuesday. Members of the newsroom at RadioNL were terminated today, Sept. 24, according to a social media post by employee Brett Mineer.  His initial social media post said the "entire" newsroom was terminated, but the company responded to iNFOnews.ca to say three employees will remain in the newsroom. The company didn't say how many newsroom employees there were to begin with. "The station is not shutting down, is not for sale, and no other Stingray stations are impacted at all. No partnerships are impacted," company president Steve Jones said in a written response. Jones wouldn't comment on who will remain at the station, but iNFOnews.ca has confirmed that the roster includes news director Paul James, morning show host Jeff Andreas and sports reporter Jon Keen, whose work is done in partnership with the Kamloops Blazers. It appeared to be a surprise move at CHNL and the news programming was operating as normal Tuesday morning until the station suddenly cut to music. Around 11 a.m., what was supposed to be the syndicated Mike Smyth Show was replaced with classic rock. The station was broadcasting brief The Canadian Press news updates. Radio station 610 AM has been broadcasting in the Kamloops area since 1970, and was owned by NL Broadcasting Inc. until 1993. Newcap Broadcasting bought the station until it was sold to Stingray Group Inc. in 2018 https://broadcasting-history.ca/radio/radio-stations/british-columbia/british-columbia-central/chnl-am/ . Premier David Eby was among those mourning the dwindling of RadioNL's newsroom on social media Tuesday morning. He said it's "just bad for local journalism." "(RadioNL) has long been a trusted source of information for the community, and (Brett Mineer's) voice has been a steady presence in their lives," he said on X.com. Stingray Group, which owns several other FM radio stations around Canada, said it still believes in AM radio and its role in Kamloops, noting that several AM stations have closed around in the country in recent years, particularly those in smaller markets. The station will reduce its newscasts to include "a mix of music, news, sports, and community information," a statement read. "Today some changes were made at Radio NL in Kamloops to ensure the radio station’s long-term viability and commitment to the community," the statement read. "As a result of this difficult decision, some positions were impacted in news and programming. Our remaining news team at Radio NL will continue to provide the most local newscasts throughout the day reflecting all that is important in our community." The company's most recent quarterly report to shareholders, published last month, does not mention any issues or impending cuts to its Kamloops newsroom. What it does say is that that company revenues "soared" with a nearly 13 per cent increase over the same quarter last year https://corporate.stingray.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/q125_pr_en.pdf . From April to the end of June, the media company raked in $89 million in revenue, according to the report. Its news division represents a very small fraction of the media company and wasn't mentioned in the report.   Well - the entire Radio NL newsroom has been terminated. So - ya. #Kamloops https://twitter.com/hashtag/Kamloops?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw — Brett Mineer (@MineerBrett) September 24, 2024 https://twitter.com/MineerBrett/status/1838629688614490211?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw   The closure of RadioNL’s newsroom is just bad news for local journalism. @RadioNLNews https://twitter.com/RadioNLNews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw has long been a trusted source of information for the community, and @MineerBrett https://twitter.com/MineerBrett?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw voice has been a steady presence in their lives. — David Eby (@Dave_Eby) September 24, 2024 https://twitter.com/Dave_Eby/status/1838643180859953373?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw — This story was updated with a social media statement from David Eby and with information from a Stingray Group Inc. shareholder report at 11:40 a.m., Sept. 24, 2024. — This story was updated with a response from Stingray president Steve Jones at 1:43 p.m., Sept. 24, 2024. To contact a reporter for this story, email Levi Landry mailto:llandry@infonews.ca  or call 250-819-3723 or email the editor mailto:news@infonews.ca . You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom mailto:tips@infonews.ca  and be entered to win a monthly prize draw. We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. SUBSCRIBE to our awesome newsletter here https://infotel.ca/newsletter .