Firstly, I want to start this column with a great big thank-you to all our advertisers and flyer customers who have continued to run their ads.
A second big call-out and thank you to the hundreds of readers who have made a direct financial contribution over the past three days.
Every advertisement and donation helps us not only from an operating cost perspective, but it also sends us a very direct message that what we do matters, everyday, and you are prepared to support our efforts. We remain 100 per cent committed to keeping our community updated at this critical time on all the regular community news, local initiatives to help our front-line workers, seniors and other heroic acts of selflessness, and especially how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting us all locally and regionally.
Today, we here at the North Shore News are facing unprecedented challenges, as you all are. We have taken drastic efforts to curtail our expenses and all of our staff have taken part in one way or another. Every one of us has faced significantly reduced incomes and many are now temporarily laid off, as we grapple with very significant revenue loss from our advertisers.
Our operations have been 100 per cent funded by the local and regional businesses that have been buying access to our audience for 50 years. That model is terrifically challenged in today’s world, with nearly 50 per cent of all advertising now going to the duopoly of Facebook and Google. We as an industry are challenged to keep the lights on and keep Canadian journalists employed and doing their jobs, telling the stories and providing the facts that you all rely on us for.
We have now implemented an online donation mechanism on our website, nsnews.com, to make it easy for our supporters, readers and community members to support us with direct donations. Your contribution whether $5 a month or more significant will go to ensure our ability to continue to serve our communities here on the North Shore. Please consider the value that we add to your community and your own enjoyment of life here. We will continue to attend council meetings, attend the courts and tell compelling stories about your neighbourhood and the incredible people that make our community so special.
Community news media organizations like ours truly are the conduit that binds us all together as a community. Our news and content truly reflects the communities that we call home.
It is time now for all of us to stop taking local news for granted, and step up today. I know I have, not only for the North Shore News but for many other of my most appreciated and trusted news media outlets.
Click here to find our donation page. If you prefer to drop a cheque in the mail or would like to discuss your contribution directly with me, please do. I’m at publisher@nsnews.com, or call 604-998-3523.
Finally, I want to finish by thanking you all for reading our stories in print and online, and creating that great value proposition for our advertisers. It is through our strong audience engagement that we create value for our advertisers and sponsors. However, in today’s world we all need to do more to ensure that news continues to be available, reliable and truthful. Please do your part.
Peter Kvarnstrom is publisher of the North Shore News and president of community media at Glacier Media Group.
