After major northeast B.C. newspapers close, former editor hopes to fill gap with 'locally owned' outlet
CBC
The closure of two long-standing news outlets in B.C.'s northeast this week has some in the community mourning — and others hopeful for creative solutions to fill the gaps left behind.
Glacier Media announced the decision to shutter both Fort St. John's Alaska Highway News and the Dawson Creek Mirror this week, saying in a letter that the papers are no longer sustainable as ad revenue has "shifted heavily to online platforms such as Facebook or Google."
"It's been an anxious couple of months," said Rob Brown, managing editor of the Dawson Creek Mirror — who is hoping to fill the gap left by the Mirror with what he describes as a "homegrown, locally owned" news outlet.
Brown says he had a sense the closure was imminent this past summer. In the past decade, he says, staff have been whittled down from more than 20 to just a small handful.
"These are papers that helped grow our communities," Peace River South MLA Mike Bernier told CBC News.
The former mayor of Dawson Creek says he relied on local media to get messages to his constituents, and stay informed about the community.
"It's actually very devastating in a lot of ways," Bernier said.
None of the newspapers will be continuing with online editions. CBC News reached out to Glacier Media for comment, but did not receive a response.
Last month, the independent Fort Nelson News also closed, after publishing its first edition in 1959.
On Tuesday, Kamloops This Week confirmed it is closing its doors at the end of October after 35 years of operations.
"There's really just a lot of cost issues that have accumulated," said Robert Doull, president of Aberdeen Publishing, which owns Kamloops This Week, told CBC News.
"And, Google and Meta have been blocking our links [as a result of Bill C-18] which has reduced our page views by half."
CBC News reached out to the federal government for comment on the impact of Bill C-18, also known as the Online News Act, on local media but did not hear back prior to publication.
The closures leave a large gap in the local media landscape of B.C.'s Peace region in the northeast, a vast region that often views itself as underrepresented by media outlets from the rest of the province.