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Torstar Corp. announced Tuesday that it will cut 52 jobs, including 45 in the Toronto Star newsroom. The newsroom cuts affect 26 temporary staff — most of whom work on the Star’s tablet app Toronto Star Touch — and 19 permanent employees.

“This is a very difficult day for our newsroom,” said Toronto Star editor Michael Cooke in a memo. “On every level — professional and human — the loss of these people hurts.”

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The cuts signal a major reduction in the resources allocated to Star Touch, which the company spent nearly $25 million on last year. Torstar spent $7.8 million on the app in the first six months of this year, but plans to spend only about $2 million for the remainder of 2016.

Since a much-publicized launch in September 2015, the Star has struggled to establish an audience for its tablet edition. The company previously said it hoped to reach 200,000 weekly readers with the Star Touch app by the end of 2016, but on an investors’ teleconference last month Torstar CEO and Star publisher David Holland said that number currently stood at only 55,000 to 60,000.