Like Mark Twain famously said, the report of our death has been greatly exaggerated.
For the past few weeks, it seemed like announcement after announcement of layoffs, closures and cutbacks in media in Canada. Not only print media, but broadcast as well. It wasn’t a surprise to hear people wonder if journalism in this country was irrevocably altered as the digital sphere chips away at traditional media’s economic base.
Pundits have even given a date to the anticipated death of print media and it’s frighteningly close. But like Mr. Twain said, it’s a bit of an exaggeration. Community newspapers, like the Nanaimo News Bulletin, have a niche market that taps into local content that residents can’t find anywhere else. If you want to read about Nanaimo city council and how your tax dollars are being spent, you are not likely to pick up the Globe and Mail. For other reasons, of course – it’s a fantastic product – but not for local, Nanaimo news.
The closure of the Nanaimo Daily News weighed heavily on us this week as some colleagues left Nanaimo to find work in the industry. A 141-year-old institution ended and we felt the responsibility of that as professionals, understanding our role in a healthy, democratic society to question authority, challenge the establishment and highlight injustice. Our place in the community is not one taken lightly. We understand the power we wield to foster dialogue and create change in Nanaimo and our goal is to always strive to do just that.
You might have noticed a few changes in the News Bulletin’s last three issues. The papers are bigger with a much larger news hole, allowing us to showcase the writing and photography of our news team. Sections like arts and sports are expanded and we’ve been able to include more community news, like donations to Nanaimo charities, scholarship opportunities and achievements from regular people.
Everything that’s in print is also on the web. Black Press embraced digital first years ago, and in the last few weeks we’ve ramped that up considerably. We no longer wait for print deadlines. If a story breaks, it breaks online. From car accidents to school lockdowns, once we can confirm facts, it goes live and is pushed out to our Twitter and Facebook feeds as well.
It’s only been a week, but already we’re seeing more interaction from readers with an increase in letters to the editor, story ideas and comments on our coverage, identifying areas we could do better and suggesting stories we might tackle in the coming weeks. Please keep that coming. Reporters can be reached at the e-mail at the end of their stories or, if you are online you can click on their byline and see a short biography, picture and social media feed to interact with them.
We’re a community newspaper that serves this community. We live here, we work here and we pay taxes here. We want to see Nanaimo grow and thrive, and one of the ways to do that is to provide information, foster healthy debate and ask tough questions of our civic, business and political leaders. We’re ready to take on that challenge and that responsibility.
The business model of print media is changing. But it’s not dying and certainly journalism is not either.
