News co-op staffed by laid-off reporters officially launches
Things may get slippery.
Freshet News, a new media organization covering community issues in Burnaby, New Westminster and the Tri-Cities, has officially launched.
The non-profit news cooperative is staffed by reporters from defunct newspapers: Tri-City News, Burnaby Now, and the New Westminster Record. All three publications were shuttered this spring shortly before the federal election.
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Reporters at Freshet include Mario Bartel, Janis Cleugh, Theresa McManus and Cornelia Naylor.
This week’s website launch follows a fundraising drive that eventually yielded $54,000.
“It’s really heartwarming to see all the people who have given $100 here, $50 there,” Bartel told the Dispatch in August. “That drives us as well, because that shows people value this and they want it to happen.”
Publishing a print product is the primary focus, Bartel confirmed earlier this year.
“We’re not going to be digital players. It’s not going to be like the end of the Tri-City News, where we will pump out four stories a day to get the website rolling,” he said.
The Tri-City News, Burnaby Now, and the New West Record cancelled their print newspapers and went exclusively online in 2023.
Freshet is set to focus its coverage on city council, school board, sports, business, and the arts.
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