Some readers may have heard the news that Metroland Media is being put into Bankruptcy Protection, consequently they are shifting the majority of their local newspapers to a digital only model. This decision includes all their weekly newspapers: such as the Port Perry Star, Uxbridge Times-Journal, Kawartha Lakes This Week and Brock Citizen. The decision, announced on Friday, September 15th, includes the layoff of 605 employees.
First off, we just want to let all our readers know, The Standard is still Standing, and operating as usual. We are still providing you local news, sports and opinions.
The Standard has never been affiliated with Metroland Media. We are a locally owned newspaper with a focus on local stories and interests.
In their statement, Metroland cited, “substantial declines in both print advertising and the flyer business” as their reason to pivot. This really underscores the importance of supporting local newspapers through advertising. Local newspapers do not charge for the publishing of a newspaper, so advertising revenue plays a substantial role in the potential success or failure of a local news outlet. This is why the Canadian government and provincial government both would be wise to alter their advertising budget, in order to put less funding towards organizations like Facebook and Google and put more into community news.
In this, they are missing the real culture of the population, where we really live.
The big tech giants don’t really support Canadian communities, care to employ Canadians or pay taxes in Canada. Local newspapers do.
This is apparent with the way Meta is handling the Canadian government’s recent passing of Bill C-18, the Online News Act. Instead of focusing on paying Canadian news outlets for content which is their property, Facebook and Instagram are blocking Canadians access to local news through the social media sites. As we’ve seen, with this unfortunate news about Metroland, if you don’t support local news there can be huge repercussions.
Local newspapers employ local residents, which providejobs in local economies. This includes advertising staff, journalists, circulation staff, and newspaper carriers, among many others.
Over the years, The Standard’s staff have worked hard to bring you, our readers, information which is important to you, to make educated and informed decisions on local issues, allowing you to form opinions on the issues which matter to the local communities we cover and you live in. Consequently, now, The Standard remains, as the only print newspaper in Kawartha Lakes, Brock Township and Scugog, and just one of two remaining print papers in Uxbridge.
As a company, we’d like to thank our loyal readers and advertisers who continue to keep us in business, and we continue to welcome new advertisers as well. Though the media landscape has changed very abruptly and very substantially, we want everyone to know The Standard is still in business. We are still standing, and we are hopeful, organizations will take notice of what can happen if you don’t support local journalism and the good which continues to help communities thrive when you do.