Canada's National Post to take Mondays off

TORONTO, April 30 (UPI) -- The parent company of Canada's National Post newspaper said it will skip publishing nine Monday editions during the summer to save money.

The announcement was made Wednesday by the CanWest Global Communications Corp., The Globe and Mail reported.

The news couldn't be found on the Post's Web site.

Staff was told the first Monday off would be July 6 and run through Sept. 14, which is 10 weeks, but includes Labor Day, when the Post doesn't publish. CanWest said Mondays in summer have the lowest readership and that the move would generate savings on paper, ink and distribution.

CanWest has $3.9 billion in debt and is negotiations with bondholders and lending banks in a bid to avoid filing for bankruptcy protection. It owns the Global television network and a string of daily newspapers from British Columbia east into Quebec, but those papers won't be similarly affected by the Monday black-outs, the report said.

The National Post published its first edition Oct. 27, 1998.