This letter to the editor, published in the Ottawa Citizen on September 19th, 2023, was written in response to The Glengarry News print newspaper ceasing publication, and the decline of local news more generally.
Local and hyperlocal community publications play a critical role in capturing stories that never make it into papers of wider scope. They also curate, vet and edit news with a professionalism that most local social media pages don’t possess. But preserving these small publications takes extraordinary sacrifice from publishers, editors and writers — many of whom invest their own money and volunteer hours to keep things afloat. I know this from personal experience. Preserving community papers against all odds can consume one’s life.
It’s heartening to read that leaders in Glengarry are trying to find a way to salvage their community paper. But let’s be frank: the only solution is for readers to pay for their news, as they would have done in the past, and not expect it for free. This change in behaviour, which needs to happen beyond our region too, may then lead to an upswing in crucial advertising revenue. It’s a small sacrifice, but a big change in habit that readers must make.
Christopher Adam, Ottawa
