A new community newspaper serving North Delta is launches today (July 7), as the North Delta Reporter begins publishing weekly.
“North Delta is a thriving community and Black Press is thrilled to be launching The North Delta Reporter,” said publisher Dwayne Weidendorf.
“Our strength as a community newspaper chain is our award-winning editorial teams and our commitment to serving each community that we represent. We look forward to serving North Delta via partnerships with readers, advertisers and community-service groups for many years to come.”
James Smith (left) is the editor of the new publication. A graduate of Langara College’s journalism program, he has previously worked as a freelancer for The Vancouver Courier and has spent the last several weeks getting to know the community while preparing for the paper’s launch.
“It’s been a lot of work and the learning curve is pretty steep, but I’m excited to deliver something that the people of North Delta can be proud to call their own for a long time to come,” Smith said.
The Surrey-North Delta Leader will no longer distribute in North Delta now that The Reporter has launched.
James Smith can be reached at editor@northdeltareporter.com or by phone 604-575-5346.
The North Delta Reporter is online at northdeltareporter.com
A message from the editor:
That’s right everyone, the rumours are true; North Delta finally has its own newspaper.
Allow me to formally introduce you to the North Delta Reporter, the latest addition to the Black Press family. We’re a weekly paper focused on doing two things: giving the residents, businesses and com- munity groups in North Delta a way to share their stories, and highlighting the best that the community has to offer.
That’s not to say there won’t be any news in the Reporter. We’ll always do our best to keep you up to date on important local issues and how they might affect you. Instead, what it means is that we’re not bound to the old “if it bleeds, it leads” style of news. We want to focus on all the good things happening in North Delta, the kind of hyper-local stories you can only get through a community newspaper.
That’s why when I say North Delta has its own paper, I don’t mean that in a purely metaphorical sense. This paper is as much yours as it is mine, and I need your help to make it the best it can possibly be.
I want this to be more than just a one way conver- sation where I write, you read and our relationship ends there. I want to know what you think. I want you to tell me what’s working and what’s not. I want you to let me know what you want (or don’t want) to see in your paper.
I have a couple of ideas about ways we can make that happen.
First, I want the Reporter to have a robust and lively letters section as well as something akin to the beloved “Roses and Rotten Tomatoes” section in our sister paper the Surrey Now. (I haven’t set- tled on a name for our version yet, but I’m open to suggestions.) That’s something we can get going on right away and hopefully have up and running in the next issue or two.
Next, I want to develop a diverse group of regular contributors and columnists from within the com- munity to share their knowledge and opinions in a more formal way. I’m open to pitches from anyone who’d like to write, say, a monthly gardening column or a bi-weekly seniors column — whatever your passion, I’d like to help you share it with the rest of the community.
Lastly, if you have a story idea or community event, or just know of someone in the community you think deserves a recognition, please don’t hesitate to give me a call, shoot me an email or send me a tweet. Like I said before, this is your paper, and it should reflect the issues and ideas that you, the people of North Delta, care most about.
I don’t know about you, but I’m excited to see what happens next.
James Smith
Editor, North Delta Reporter
Email: editor@northdeltareporter.com
Twitter: @jameswesmith
Direct: 604-575-5346
