Metro launches new editorial strategy in Canada

It's encouraging to hear that a publisher is spending money to improve the quality of news in a newspaper. That appears to be exactly what Metro Canada is doing in appointing Dianne Rinehart as its new editor-in-chief for English Canada. The veteran journalist's work has appeared in the Toronto Star, Globe and Mail, Montreal Gazette, Winnipeg Free Press, Calgary Herald and Vancouver Sun.

Her plan at Metro is to "out-report, out-design, out-delight, out-service and out-deliver the competition in the paper - and on the web."

According to Media in Canada, Reinhart plans to:

• Reposition Metro as a "hybrid newspaper" — with an increased focus on magazine-style sections such as health, food, style and homes, in addition to exceptional news coverage.

• Add several high-profile columnists including political analyst Lawrence Martin, environmentalist David Suzuki, humor writer Anne Hines, health expert Celia Milne, The Smart Cookies TV team's financial advice, food writer Barb Holland, relationship expert Josey Vogels, and Alan Cross, host of The Ongoing History of New Music.

• Increase synergies between the paper's newsprint and online edition.

• Utilize Metro's six newsrooms across Canada to create a media platform that allows for in-depth local news coverage.

The last bullet point may be the most important. People like local news. Reducing coverage from those outposts would be suicide for Metro.