Do you miss the New Westminster Record?
On April 17, Glacier Media closed the Record, as well as the Burnaby NOW and Tri-City News, throwing journalists and others out of work and the communities they covered in the dark about how decisions are made at city hall, upcoming local arts and cultural events and even the achievements of young athletes.
I’m one of those journalists.
And while I worked for the Tri-City News, I was previously at the New Westminster and Burnaby NewsLeader when they were closed by the same company in 2015.
My colleagues and I firmly believe in the important role reliable, robust local news plays in connecting neighbours and building community. Without it, we’re left with gossip, conjecture, misinformation and division.
That’s why we’ve started a non-profit co-operative to launch a fresh, new publication for sharing local stories. It will be run by the workers and owned by the community.
It’s a new concept for Western Canadian media but it’s had success in Quebec, where communities rallied to save six local publications.
You can join our effort. If you’re a local business, you can commit to support us by taking out advertising. If you’re a community member, you can donate to the Save Our Local News fundraising campaign. Or if you volunteer, you can sign up to help spread the word. You can also register to become a future member or subscriber.
Together, we can put community back into community news.
Mario Bartel
