The Financial Post reports in its Thursday edition that Bell Media president Sean Cohan says recent layoffs and programming cuts are something he does not take lightly, but were necessary to accelerate the company's goals in the digital media landscape. A Canadian Press dispatch to the Post says that on Tuesday, Mr. Cohan made his first public appearance since stepping into the executive role by speaking at the inaugural Black Screen Office Symposium in Toronto, where he made the keynote address. After the speech, Mr. Cohan told CP that he takes issue with how layoffs across the country by parent company BCE have been characterized as "killing journalism." In February, Bell announced 4,800 job cuts at all levels of the company, of which fewer than 10 per cent have affected Bell Media specifically. Bell Media also announced the end of multiple local newscasts across the country and said CTV's flagship investigative series W5 would no longer be a standalone program. Mr. Cohan said Bell Media now has "more dedicated journalists in more territories" in Canada than ever before as a result of the restructuring. The company says CTV National News will soon have dedicated news-gathering staff in all 10 Canadian provinces.