Save Our Local News Campaign finds support among local politicians in the Tri-Cities

A campaign to revive community news in the Tri-Cities, Burnaby and New Westminster is gaining traction among local politicians, who say the loss of print journalism has left a gap in civic engagement, public information and local advertising.

On July 8, former Tri-City News journalist Mario Bartel appeared before Port Moody council to speak on behalf of the Save Our Local News Campaign (SOLNC).

A similar delegation was warmly received by Port Coquitlam council on June 24, and Coquitlam–Port Coquitlam MP Ron McKinnon used his first post-election remarks in the House of Commons to highlight the campaign on June 10.

“It’s a pretty barren media landscape for three dynamic cities and two villages dealing with issues like growth, transportation, education and recreation infrastructure, along with social issues like homelessness and the challenges presented by climate change – the list goes on,” Bartel said. “There has to be a better way.”

The Save Our Local News Campaign is a new grassroots initiative launched by four recently laid-off Glacier Media journalists to create Western Canada’s first worker-run, community-owned newspaper co-op.

Announced on June 4 at the Unifor BC Western Regional Office in New Westminster, the campaign is a direct response to Glacier Media’s shuttering of the Tri-City News, Burnaby Now, and the New West Record in April and May. 

The closures have left more than 600,000 Lower Mainland residents without a local news source, save for two small online newsletters, including the Dispatch.

In the wake of the closures, Bartel said, “countless stories [are] going untold: of groups and organizations doing good work; businesses doing unique things; interesting people achieving greatness or overcoming challenges; young athletes’ accomplishments . . . artists finding their voice.”

SOLNC’s founding journalists – Mario Bartel, Janis Cleugh, Theresa McManus, and Cornelia Naylor, dubbed the “fresh four” – aim to raise $100,000 to launch a new publication with the support of Unifor and the Union Cooperative Initiative (UCI), which helps kickstart worker led co-ops.

They are modeling their approach after a successful co-op rescue in Quebec that saved six dailies and 300 jobs in 2019, as well as CHEK News in Victoria.

Plans include the revival of both online and print editions, contingent on funding.

To date, the campaign has raised around $32,000 of its $100,000 goal for the first fundraising phase, which ends on Aug. 28.

Bartel said that residents have consistently expressed how much they miss the connection provided by the print edition. The shuttered Glacier Media papers stopped their print editions in August 2023.

“Social media is not an alternative. Facebook groups are not journalism,” he said. “A paper is tangible. It’s something you can hold in your hand. It has a sense of permanence. The internet, the stories fly by so fast.”

Bartel cited data from the Canadian Canadian Center for Policy Alternatives showing more than 2.5 million Canadians no longer have a source for local news, and 25 print publications – most of them community papers – are closing every year.

He said the corporate ownership of media, often under investment and hedge funds, has diminished news rooms to “skeletal levels” as they are more committed to shareholders than communities they are serving.

“The thing that’s been driving us the whole time is that the product isn’t broken. It’s the ownership of the product that’s broken,” Bartel said. “This model will be run by the workers, will be accountable to the community, and will have community involvement. We think it could be the future.”

Councillors across the chamber were supportive of the campaign and echoed Bartel’s concerns.

Coun. Kyla Knowles said she’s worried about the rise of misinformation, highlighting Port Moody’s recent communication strategies in response. She added that competition between news sources is important.

“Print media and all media is really important in cutting through that noise,” she said. “It’s such an integral part of so many of our lives growing up . . . and I think it’s worth saving.”

Coun. Diana Dilworth said she missed “some of those long reads that you would only find in newspapers,” while Coun. Amy Lubik called the co-op model “a fantastic way to help get the community involved and have a bit of a fight against corporate media.”

The loss of the paper was also a significant hit to the advertising of local businesses and election campaigns, according to Coun. Callan Morrison.

Bartel agreed, stating that once the Glacier papers moved to online-only, many local businesses stopped advertising. 

He asked council to consider allocating city advertising dollars to the print publication once it launches, and to provide space in civic buildings for distribution.

“You guys are a business as well,” Bartel said. “You used to advertise in the Tri-City News.

“So when the time comes and we’re ready to go, which we anticipate will be this fall, allocating a portion of the city’s advertising budget back to our publication would be a huge boost.”

Mayor Meghan Lahti committed to writing a letter of support, putting the papers available in civic spaces, and promised to speak with staff about future advertising opportunities.