AFTER 17 years at the North Shore News, director of sales and marketing Dee Dhaliwal leaves the newspaper this month to step into the role of publisher at the Vancouver Courier.
"I feel honoured to be given custodianship of the brand; the Vancouver Courier is the oldest newspaper in Vancouver, and the biggest community newspaper in Canada," said Dhaliwal, after last week's announcement.
The promotion is bittersweet, she added, because it means leaving the newspaper where she got her first job in 1995, shortly after arriving in Canada from the U.K.
"I will miss this great paper, this great team, this great community. It's always going to be a big part of my heart."
Dhaliwal was first hired to work in the classified sales department, and was soon promoted to human resources manager by North Shore News founder Peter Speck. She took on the lead sales and marketing role in 2000.
Her long career at this paper has not been boring; there have been many highs - such as celebrating multiple wins for Best Community Newspaper in Canada - and a few significant lows.
"The fire (which razed the News' office on Feb. 10, 1995) was a low, but publishing after the fire - getting the paper out anyway, that was an incredible high."
While the recession and growth of digital news has taken their toll on the industry, Dhaliwal said last year's acquisition of the News by Glacier Media was another big high.
"Being bought by an organization that is committed to community news, that's definitely a positive. Community newspapers have an amazing future as one of the best sources of local news that readers can't get from other reliable sources."
She looks forward to serving a new audience in her role at the Courier. "It's time for a new adventure."
