Pat Payton was at the St. Marys Journal-Argus until almost midnight Sunday night, putting together the sports section.

When he arrived at work Monday, he was told those pages would never see the light of day.

That paper, along with more than two dozen others, has stopped operating, effective immediately.

"I guess a 34-year newspaper career is over. It's just really surreal," said Payton, who has worked at the paper since he was 27 years old.

Lorne Eedy's family owned the St. Marys Journal Argus for four generations. He holds up a London Free Press article announcing its sale in 1990. (Kate Dubinski/CBC News) The Journal Argus has been publishing since the mid 1850s.

A deal between media giants Postmedia and Torstar will result in the closing of many community newspapers.

In this region, Our London will be closed, as will the St. Marys Journal-Argus, the St. Marys Weekender, the St. Thomas/Elgin Weekly News and the Stratford City Gazette.

"This transaction allows Postmedia to focus on strategic areas and core products, and allows us to continue with a suite of community-based products, in a deeply disrupted industry," said Postmedia CEO Paul Godfrey in a statement.

The Exeter Times-Advocate and the Exeter Weekender will continue to publish.

Local loss

"That's shocking after so many years," said St. Marys mayor Al Strathdee noting that the Journal-Argus has been publishing since the mid 1850s.

The main street of the Town of St. Marys. (Kate Dubinski/CBC News) He said the paper has covered many important issues facing the town located northeast of London, as well as sports and community history.

It's been a great run at Our London, but the news is true, we will be closing in 6 weeks. There are some excellent people here who will be looking for a place to land so please contact them (or me) if you have any ideas. Until then, we have a few more issues to publish. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ldnont?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ldnont</a> —@TaylorInLondon In London, employees at Our London, a digital and paper publication that covers everything from music to news, learned Monday they would be out of work in six weeks.

Editor Scott Taylor broke the news on social media saying Our London started out as a "big idea" that has been a success.

Widespread closures

Torstar bought eight community publications, seven daily newspapers and two free dailies from Postmedia. They are:

Barrie Examiner

Niagara Falls Review

Northumberland Today

Orillia Packet & Times

Peterborough Examiner

St. Catharines Standard

Welland Tribune

Bradford Times

Collingwood Enterprise Bulletin

Fort Erie Times

Innisfil Examiner

Niagara Advance

Pelham News

Inport News (Port Colborne)

Thorold Niagara News

The Niagara Falls Review, the Peterborough Examiner, St. Catharines Standard and Welland Tribune will stay open.

Torstar also bought the free dailies 24Hours in Toronto and Vancouver, which will close.

In the same transaction, Torstar sold Metro in Winnipeg and Ottawa to Postmedia, and the following weekly community newspapers.

Brant News

Belleville News

Central Hastings News

Frontenac Gazette

Kingston Heritage

Kanata Kourier-Standard

Nepean/Barrhaven News

Orleans News

Ottawa East News

Ottawa South News

Ottawa West News

Stittsville News

West Carleton Review

Quinte West News

St. Lawrence News

Our London

St. Thomas/Elgin Weekly News

Exeter Times-Advocate

St. Marys Journal Argus

Stratford City Gazette

Norfolk News

Meaford Express

All but the Exeter papers are to close.

"What makes this particularly difficult is that it means we will say goodbye to many dedicated newspaper people," said Godfrey in the statement.

"However, the continuing costs of producing dozens of small community newspapers in these regions in the face of significantly declining advertising revenues means that most of these operations no longer have viable business models."

The transaction will allow Torstar to operate "more efficiently through increased geographic synergies," said president and CEO John Boynton.

"By acquiring publications within or adjacent to our primary areas and selling publications outside our primary areas we will be able to put a greater focus on regions where we believe we can be more effective in serving both customers and clients."

The Competition Bureau confirmed it will be reviewing the deal.

By law, the Competition Bureau must generally be given advance notice of any deal involving Canadian assets worth more than $88 million.

Because no cash changed hands in this case, the bureau wasn't informed — but that doesn't mean it's being bypassed, or that the deal doesn't require its approval.

"I can confirm that the Competition Bureau will be undertaking a review of the transaction," a spokesperson told CBC News in a statement.