Three of my old friends are in such rough shape they’re not going to make it more than another month or two.
Before I lead you astray with unnecessary melodrama, I should clarify that the old friends in question are newspapers, all of which are scheduled to close this spring.
Glacier Media announced late last month that due to the industry’s ongoing financial challenges, it’s no longer sustainable to operate the Burnaby Now, New Westminster Record and Tri-City News.
The pending closure of the three community newspapers in Greater Vancouver hits close to home for me as they’re all part of a chain that I worked for over the course of many years.
The writing was on the wall, I suppose, when all three went online-only a couple of years ago due to the cost of print and distribution, but it’s nonetheless sad to see a lot of very good journalists, people who had consistently produced top-notch newspapers, find themselves out of a job.
It also leaves a big chunk of the Lower Mainland – five cities with a combined population of about 600,000 – without a community newspaper. It wasn’t that long ago, about a decade, that residents in those areas had two newspapers delivered to their doors, but in a matter of a few weeks there won’t be any such presence, digital or otherwise.
I am undoubtedly biased, but I believe that leaves a giant hole in those cities. Newspapers do a great deal to foster a sense of community by keeping people connected and informed, so losing that vehicle can’t help but tear at the fabric of a place.
Burnaby Mayor Mike Hurley called the closures a tremendous loss, saying newspapers play a vital role in a vibrant, connected city.
“Communities thrive when local media thrives, and residents have access to a trusted source for news and current events,” Hurley said in a statement on the city’s website. “Legacy media faces many challenges in the digital era, and it is essential that we find ways to support local, fact-based reporting as we move forward.”
Over in New Westminster, Mayor Patrick Johnstone told CBC: "I don't know what it means when a community can't tell its stories anymore, when there's no record of our day-to-day, never mind the history of our city.
"I don't know what the solution is here, but we have to rethink what media means to us and what journalism means to us as a country and as a community, because this is not sustainable," Johnstone said.
The pending closures certainly aren't the first and won’t be the last, but they do shine a light on the precarious position many legacy media outlets find themselves in these days. The argument that it’s a case of adapt or die in an industry that’s been acutely impacted by innovation over the last quarter-century is a valid one, but there’s also something to be said for the intrinsic value these operations provide to society as a whole.
When it comes to legacy media, including community newspapers, it can well be a case of you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.
