Research that explores what is happening to Canadian newspapers and the impact of disruption is relatively limited. It is clear, however, that the challenges facing the sector are significant. Newspaper revenues collapsed to $2.6 billion in 2017 from a high of $4.7 billion in 2008 (Winseck, 2018). The overall percentage of Canadians who rely upon print sources for news continues to decline: it dropped to 31 per cent in 2018 from 36 per cent two years earlier (Newman, Fletcher, Kalogeropoulos, Levy & Nielsen, 2018). Only 22 per cent of Canadians have print or digital newspaper subscriptions (Earnscliffe Strategy Group, 2017, p. 7) and in a mid-2017 survey, 86 per cent of respondents said they will still get the news they need if their local daily newspaper goes out of business. Even respondents who lived in one-newspaper towns were blasé: 84 per cent said they will still stay informed if the local newspaper ceases to exist. The results were consistent across regions, age groups, gender, political affiliation, urban and rural respondents, and homeowners and renters. “Because people consume information using a variety of digital platforms,” the pollsters noted, “they may not be as aware as used to be the case of the sources of their news, and the important role of local newspapers in newsgathering. It’s also possible that they believe that different media outlets will fill in the gaps…” (Anderson & Coletto, 2017).

Data from the Local News Map, a crowd-sourced tool that tracks changes to local news media across Canada, shows that 262 local news outlets have closed since 2008 including 231 newspapers in 180 communities. Thirty-six were dailies and 195 were community papers that published fewer than five times per week (Table 1). By comparison, only 40 newspapers launched over the same decade (Table 2).

Table 1. Breakdown of closings by type of media, January 1, 2008 to December 1, 2018. 

Type of media outlet	# of closings
community paper	195
daily paper - free	23
daily paper - paid	13
online	13
radio - private	2
radio - public	6
TV - private	10
TV - public	0

Source: Lindgren & Corbett, 2018

Table 2. Breakdown of newly launched outlets by type of media, January 1, 2008 to December 1, 2018.

Type of media outlet	# of launches
community paper	39
daily paper - free	1
online	46
radio - private	6
radio - public	3
TV - private	3
TV - public	5

Source: Lindgren & Corbett, 2018.

Content analyses suggest these newspaper losses have affected the availability of news. A Public Policy Forum study that examined the newspaper content in 20 different communities found that the total number of articles declined by nearly half between 2008 and 2017. Over that same period, coverage of democratic institutions and civic affairs fell by more than one third (Public Policy Forum, 2018).

Critics suggest corporate concentration is intimately linked to declines in both the quality and quantity of news coverage in local newspapers. Marc Edge (2018) argues that Canada’s federal competition bureau has failed to apply antitrust laws to newspaper mergers and takeovers—business deals that sounded the death knell for many smaller publications and led to domination of the sector by a few large players (see Table 3 and Table 4)

Table 3. Ten largest community newspaper chains in Canada as of December, 2018. 

Top 10 community newspaper owners	# of titles
Postmedia Network Inc.	86
Black Press Ltd.	85
Metroland Media Group	78
snapd Inc.	72
Glacier Media Inc.	44
SaltWire Network	25
TransMet Logistics/Metropolitan Media	25
TC Media	21
Icimédias inc.	20
Brunswick News Inc.	19

Source: News Media Canada, 2018b.

Table 4. Daily newspaper ownership in Canada as of November, 2018.

Owner	# of titles
Postmedia Network Inc./Sun Media	35
TorStar Corp.	12
SaltWire Network Inc.	8
Groupe Capitales Médias	6
ALTA Newspaper Group/Glacier	3
Black Press	3
Brunswick News Inc.	3
Continental Newspapers Canada Ltd.	3
Quebecor	3
F.P. Canadian Newspapers LP	2
Glacier Media	2
Globe and Mail Inc.	1
Power Corp. of Canada	1
TransMet	1
Independent Titles	7
Total	90

Source: News Media Canada, 2018a.

Data from the Local News Map show that the large newspaper chains account for most of the newspaper closings (all types of newspapers) and relatively few new titles since 2008 (Table 5 and Table 6). Critics argue that these losses are the result of corporate ownership models that have little or no connection to local newspapers or the communities where they operate. In the extreme case of private equity and hedge fund ownership, these critics say, no effort is made to balance business interests with civic responsibility and the primary allegiance is to earnings (Abernathy, 2016; Hiltz & Livesey, 2018).

Table 5. Breakdown of newspaper closings by ownership, January 1, 2008 to December 1, 2018.

Owner	# of titles
Postmedia	31
Transcontinental	30
Black Press	27
Sun Media	25
Independent	19
Glacier Media	16
Torstar	15
Metroland	14
Other	54

Source: Lindgren & Corbett, 2018.
NOTE: An independently owned news outlet is defined as a news outlet that is privately owned by a proprietor with only one or, at most, just a few local media outlets.  

Table 6. Breakdown of newspaper launches by ownership, January 1, 2008 to December 1, 2018.

Owner	# of titles
Independent	15
Metroland	7
Black Press	4
Your Community Voice	4
Transcontinental	2
Other	8

Source: Lindgren & Corbett, 2018. 
NOTE: An independently owned news outlet is defined as a news outlet that is privately owned by a proprietor with only one or, at most, just a few local media outlets.  

Canadian researchers have linked chain ownership to compromised local content in newspapers. An analysis of content in Northumberland Today, a small daily that served the community of Port Hope, Ontario, found a significant decline in local coverage following the acquisition of the newspaper by the struggling Postmedia chain in 2014. Local content filled 89 per cent of the newspaper in 2008 (when it had a different name and proprietor). By 2017, the year the publication was shut down, more than three quarters of copy was syndicated wire service content (Miller, 2017). Another study pointed to a significant reduction in the amount and prominence of local news in the Toronto Star and Ottawa Citizen newspapers after 1970. Growing concerns about national unity likely accounted for some of the increased emphasis on national coverage, but chain ownership that emphasized cost-effective production and the sharing of national stories across the group was also cited as a explanation, particularly in the case of the Ottawa Citizen, where the decline in local reporting was the most notable (Buchanan, 2014).

Research in other jurisdictions, however, suggests chain-owned newspapers benefit in terms of competitiveness because certain costs can be reduced through the centralization of production and distribution (Ali, Schmidt, Radcliffe & Donald, 2018). There are also indications that chain-owned operations are more technologically competitive. One U.S. study noted that they are more likely to have adopted digital tools such as podcasting and video (Ali, Schmidt, Radcliffe & Donald, 2018). Similarly, a Reuters Institute examination of the transition from print to digital at newspapers in France, Germany, Finland and the United Kingdom concluded that where publications were part of newspaper groups, they benefited in terms of building an online presence from access to relevant expertise and digital tools (Jenkins & Nielsen, 2018).

Despite the newspaper losses to date, there is evidence that newspapers in Canada remain an essential part of local news ecosystems. Consistent with the Danish research that identified newspapers as anchors for local political coverage (Nielsen, 2015), for instance, a forthcoming study by Ryerson University’s Local News Research Project found that in the month prior to the 2015 federal election, newspapers generated more than half of all the local news media stories (54 per cent) about the races for members of Parliament in eight communities. Other types of local media contributed much less to the coverage, with television and online news sites each producing about 14 per cent of all stories and radio stations generating 18 per cent of news items (April Lindgren, personal communication, December 9, 2018).

This survey was undertaken to create a snapshot of conditions at small-market Canadian newspapers and to generate data comparable to the results of a similar project undertaken in the United States (Ali, Radcliffe, Schmidt & Donald, 2018). The survey, therefore, included the same 23 questions asked in the American survey as well as 15 additional questions that solicited information on Canadian newsroom demographics, ethics awareness and training and audience engagement strategies. The survey questions and data are available in Appendix 1.

For consistency, this study, like its American counterpart, situates small-market newspapers in the space between online hyperlocal news outlets and publications that report on large metropolitan areas. Survey responses were solicited from newsroom and other employees working at daily or weekly publications with a print circulation below 50,000. In Canada, 30 of the country’s 90 daily papers have a total weekly print circulation below 50,000. Of the 1,029 community papers (defined by News Media Canada as papers that publish fewer than four times per week), 954 have a combined print and digital circulation below 50,000. Print-only circulation numbers for community papers are unavailable (Kelly Levson, News Media Canada, personal communication, December 16, 2018).

A total of 127 respondents completed the survey.  All respondents answered 34 of the 38 questions. The other four questions required write-in responses and some respondents opted to skip them. Responses were anonymous. Consistent with the design of the American study, respondents were able to skip questions to “ensure the highest possible completion rate (also allowing participants to potentially bypass questions that were not relevant, or possibly unclear)” (Radcliffe, Ali & Donald, 2017, p. 20).  The survey was in the field from February 5 to April 25, 2018. It was available online using the survey design website Survey Monkey and promoted on Twitter and other social media, through direct email to individual newsrooms/journalists and via industry newsletters and direct appeals circulated by the National NewsMedia Council and provincial community newspaper associations.

This report presents all results as percentages and includes the number of respondents to each question at the top of every chart and table.

Before we start, please tell us a little bit about yourself and your publication.

What is the print circulation of your publication?

Answer Choices	Responses
Under 1000	9.5%	12
1000 – 5000	28.4%	36
5000 – 10,000	19.7%	25
10,000 – 20,000	18.9%	24
20,000 – 35,000	11.8%	15
35,000 – 50,000	11.8%	15
More than 50,000	0.0%	0
Don’t know	0.0%	0
Decline to answer	0.0%	0
	Answered	127
	Skipped	0

How often does your publication produce a print edition?

Answer Choices	Responses
Not applicable - online only	0.00%	0
Daily	1.57%	2
6 days per week	5.51%	7
5 days per week	3.15%	4
4 days per week	0.79%	1
3 days per week	0.79%	1
2 days per week	15.75%	20
Weekly	65.35%	83
Every two weeks	6.30%	8
Decline to answer	0.79%	1
	Answered	127
	Skipped	0

What is your primary job function?

Answer Choices	Responses
Editor (Section/Managing)	40.16%	51
Reporter	20.47%	26
Digital/Social Media (editorial side)	0.79%	1
Technology/Product	0.00%	0
Sales/Business Development (print)	4.72%	6
Sales/Business Development (digital)	0.00%	0
Decline to answer	0.00%	0
Other (please specify)	33.86%	43
	Answered	127
	Skipped	0

Other (please specify)
As owner operator I do all the work... editor, reporter, sales, technology etc.
Design/Production/Managament
Publisher
sales manager
All of the above including Publisher/Owner
All hats above
Everything
Publisher/Sales - print & digital
Publisher
Publisher
nearly all of the above
Working with one other person to get a newspaper ready to print and distributing it.
Owner/Publisher
Publisher - all of the above
publisher/sales/production
publisher
Publisher
General Manager
Editor/reporter
all of the above
Publisher/editor/sales/business development
Publisher
Production Manager
owner operator (ie all of the above except the last one
Publisher, editor in chief
journalist, editor, publisher, owner
Publisher
Publisher
Publisher
publisher
Reporter-photographer
Graphic Designer/Accounts Receivable/Paper Layout/Design
Editor and Publisher
The first six above - only full time worker
Editor and Publisher
assistant editor
Reporter AND social media/digital AND pagination/proofing print edition
Also editor when editor is away.
Managing editor (entails all the above plus distribution)
PUBLISHER
All of the above as publisher & independent owner
Owner-operator
publisher

How old are you?

Answer Choices	Responses
18-30	17%	21
31-49	39%	49
50+	44%	56
Decline to answer	1%	1
	Answered	127
	Skipped	0

Topic 1: Experience and Role

1a. How long have you been working in local media?

Answer Choices	Responses
more than 20 years	42.5%	54
10 - 19 years	20.5%	26
5-9 years	18.9%	24
1-4 years	15.0%	19
Less than a year	3.2%	4
Decline to answer	0.0%	0
	Answered	127
	Skipped	0

1b. On which of the following do you mostly work?

Answer Choices	Responses
On the print product (i.e. physical newspaper)	44.09%	65
On the digital product (e.g. social, website etc.)	1.57%	2
I split my time between the two	54.33%	69
Decline to answer	0.0%	0
	Answered	127
	Skipped	0

Topic 2: Changes in output

2a. Thinking about your work over the past two years, how has the focus of your output changed? Consider the hours, demands, tasks and expectations for your role.

	Stayed the same		Stayed the same		Decreased		Don’t Know		Decline to answer		Not applicable		Total	Weighted Average
Print	38.84%	47	45.45%	55	14.05%	17	0.00%	0	0.00%	0	1.65%	2	121	4.18
Digital	72.95%	89	16.39%	20	4.10%	5	0.82%	1	0.82%	1	4.92%	6	122	4.43
													Answered	127
													Skipped	0

2b. Please complete the following statement. Compared to two years ago, the number of stories you have personally produced has:

Answer Choices	Responses
Increased	37.0%	47
Stayed the same	47.2%	60
Decreased	10.2%	13
Don't know	1.6%	2
Decline to answer	3.9%	5
	Answered	127
	Skipped	0

Topic 3: Working hours

3a. How many hours per week do you work on average?

Answer Choices	Responses
Decline to answer	2.36%	3
Hours/week:	97.64%	124
	Answered	127
	Skipped	0

Hours/week	Responses
4	1
20	2
25	2
28	1
32	2
35	2
36	1
38	2
40	25
42	4
43	1
44	3
45	24
46	1
47	2
48	1
50	23
52	1
55	5
60	15
70	5
80	1
Total	124

3b. Please complete the following statement. Compared to two years ago, the number of hours you work has:

Answer Choices	Responses
Increased	31.5%	40
Stayed the same	55.1%	70
Decreased	9.5%	12
Don't know	1.6%	2
Decline to answer	2.4%	3
	Answered	127
	Skipped	0

Topic 4: Job security

4a. Please complete the following statement. Compared to two years ago, the number of people at your publication has:

Answer Choices	Responses
Increased	10.24%	13
Stayed the same	30.71%	39
Decreased	56.69%	72
Don't know	2.36%	3
Decline to answer	0.00%	0
	Answered	127
	Skipped	0

4b. How secure do you feel in your job?

Answer Choices	Responses
Very secure	17.3%	22
Slightly secure	29.1%	37
Neither secure or insecure	16.5%	21
Slightly insecure	22.1%	28
Very insecure	12.6%	16
Don’t know	1.6%	2
Decline to answer	0.8%	1
	Answered	127
	Skipped	0

Topic 5: Business strategy

5. Local journalism is going through a period of change and facing a number of challenges. To what extent do you feel you understand your organization’s business strategy?

Answer Choices	Responses
Fully understand	55.91%	71
Understand a little	33.07%	42
Don’t understand	11.02%	14
Decline to answer	0.00%	0
	Answered	127
	Skipped	0

Topic 6: Social media

6a. What social media platforms do you use? [*Use means actively post to the account not simply have administrative access to] (Please select all that apply)

	Personal account - mainly not used for work purposes		Personal account - used mainly for work purposes		Your news organization's account		Total
Facebook	69.17%	83	26.67%	32	78.33%	94	120
Twitter	34.02%	33	47.42%	46	74.23%	72	97
Instagram	69.57%	32	21.74%	10	41.30%	19	46
Snapchat	100.00%	17	0.00%	0	0.00%	0	17
YouTube	59.32%	35	11.86%	7	35.59%	21	59
Tumblr	100.00%	7	0.00%	0	0.00%	0	7
Slack	3.33%	1	43.33%	13	66.67%	20	30
Decline to answer	50.00%	3	66.67	4	100.00%	6	6
Other (please specify)							8
						Answered	127
						Skipped	0

Other (please specify)
Website
There is a huge difference between not used for work and used mainly for work. I use Facebook mainly for personal but sometimes for work purposes.
Web Page
Pinterest
Tweetdeck, for news organization's account
none
Do not use personally and not my function
issuu

6b. To what extent do you apply journalism best practices and ethical standards to social media posts? (Please select all that apply)

Answer Choices	Responses
I consider them when posting to my personal account	59.1%	75
I consider them when posting to my news organization’s account	84.3%	107
I am unsure how they apply to social media	3.2%	4
I do not use social media	6.3%	8
Decline to answer	1.6%	2
	Answered	127
	Skipped	0

Topic 7: Innovation, Skills and Professional Development

7a. Which of the following do you use at your publication? (Select all that apply)

Answer Choices	Responses
Video reporting	45.7%	58
Live Video (e.g. Facebook Live, Periscope)	31.5%	40
Podcasts	10.2%	13
Chat Apps (e.g. WhatsApp, Kik etc.)	3.9%	5
Augmented Reality	0.0%	0
Virtual Reality	0.0%	0
None of the above	46.5%	59
Decline to answer	0.0%	0
	Answered	127
	Skipped	0

7b. How interested are you in learning about these emerging technologies? (1 = not interested; 5 = very interested)

	1		2		3		4		5		Total	Weighted Average
Video reporting	21.01%	25	9.24%	11	19.33%	23	23.53%	28	26.89%	32	119	3.26
Live video (e.g. Facebook Live, Periscope)	18.64%	22	8.47%	10	21.19%	25	27.12%	32	24.58%	29	118	3.31
Podcasts	28.57%	34	14.29%	17	17.65%	21	21.01%	25	18.49%	22	119	2.87
Chat apps	52.73%	58	23.64%	26	10.00%	11	8.18%	9	5.45%	6	110	1.9
Augmented reality	56.76%	63	13.51%	15	12.61%	14	11.71%	13	5.41%	6	111	1.95
Virtual reality	55.75%	63	15.04%	17	13.27%	15	11.50%	13	4.42%	5	113	1.94
Decline to answer	50.00%	3	0.00%	0	16.67%	1	0.00%	0	33.33%	2	6	2.67
											Answered	127
											Skipped	0

7c. How do you learn about new technology and tools related to your industry? (Select all that apply)

Answer Choices	Responses
Articles	63.78%	81
Training course paid for by employer	20.47%	26
Conferences	28.35%	36
Self-taught	85.83%	109
Not applicable	1.57%	2
Decline to answer	0.79%	1
Other	10.24%	13
	Answered	127
	Skipped	0

Other (please specify)
Seminars with provincial association
Through people who are more familiar with technology than I am. We sometimes barter for services and assistance.
From a younger staff member
In past years, our company held annual training seminars. These are less common now, but those of us at various small papers keep in touch online and by phone to keep updated about what is happening in our industry.
newspapers and other publications
The knowledge of others in the office who are more familiar with the tools
not much time to look at new tools
Meetings with company's digital team
Training through co-workers (no cost to employer)
Local community members seeking new ways to interact with our news organization
Professional association membership services
Talking with other journalists
From colleagues and conferences

7d. How do you learn about journalism ethics and best practices? (Select all that apply)

Answer Choices	Responses
Articles	59.1%	75
Training course paid for by employer	15.8%	20
Resource guides provided by my employer	16.5%	21
On the job experience	83.5%	106
College/university course/program	48.8%	62
Conferences	30.7%	39
Fellow journalists/editors	73.2%	93
Press council/industry association	29.1%	37
Decline to answer	2.4%	3
Other	3.9%	5
	Answered	127
	Skipped	0

Other (please specify)
Being an ethical person, I do not use material that I believe to be unethical.
I am a 40 year journalist
i dont do journalism
Got scholarship to attend one-week course at American Press Institute about 15 years ago.
Common sense. Whatever feels wrong usually is

7e. Please choose the statement that best describes your level of comfort with your journalism ethics knowledge.

Answer Choices	Responses
Extremely comfortable	54.3%	69
Somewhat comfortable	37.0%	47
Neutral	3.9%	5
Somewhat uncomfortable	2.4%	3
Extremely uncomfortable	0.0%	0
Decline to answer	2.4%	3
	Answered	127
	Skipped	0

Topic 8: Engagement

8a. Engagement is a big buzzword these days. What does engagement mean to you?

Answered	113
Skipped	14

Responses
Making the audience understand why an issue is important and that their views on it will be heard.
It is more than metrics from social media - it represents a bona fide relationship with readers whereby we're getting information and reactions from them as much as they're receiving news from us.
Readership and community response.
Nothing new. We engage with our public all the time. Internet kids use it to mean how they jump from one platform to the other.
inclusion of community in the process of delivering the news
Having people interested and talking about the subject
becoming involved in something
Being involved in the community, not just reporting on what happens.
Connecting with community. Ensuring our publications are a reflection of our readers. Covering our community warts and all.
being an active participant in my organization for change
Producing content that's relevant and interesting to our readers.
It means nothing to me as far as being a buzzword. We are a community newspaper and as such are not a part of a large group of journalists competing for news. Buzzwords are not necessary in our work day.
Being relevant to readers
actively taking part in/understanding of a certain issue or event
readers who view the paper as "their" paper
attracting attention while interacting
Letters to the editor
Having people interested and wanting to learn more, ask questions and start their own conversations about topics I write on.
Getting the trust of a person of interest
Working with readers to reflect the community
writing for the easily distracted
I'm already married (Haha).
Being involved in the lives of our readers. Having readers involved in the paper
THEY COME TO US for information, answers, promotion and advertising
n/a
Informing the community through our stories, reaching out to them for their opinions, and giving them a platform to share their ideas.
An active two-way conversation with our audience/readers. Can be in person, online through the comments section, real-time social media conversation (be it video or typing)... anything that helps readers feel like they are part of the story and not just being given information or told what to think. Help them take ownership of local media and feel like we care what they have to say, rather just looking at them like 'clicks' to sell to advertisers.
How our audience is interacting with our content
Ensuring readers in our circulation area hear and share real, thruthful news and information from our media outlet first
Having those that read our paper interact with us whether it's Letters to the Editor, a note, a Facebook post, etc...
Interesting content that starts conversations
The extent to which our audience identifies with and relies on our product to help them make informed choices about their community.
Striving to get all entities to understand that the community newspaper is the "communities" and they make the newspaper what it is by their involvement.
Engagement means back-and-forth conversations with our readers/users/customers.
hitting the readership in all aspects possible
Connecting with readers
Truly interested and actively working towards a successful newspaper organization.
Active participation by all parties
Providing content that elicits reaction from readers.
Getting the digital community actively involved with stories
Better understanding the market to maximize impact
clicks
Getting readers to talk about subjects covered by our outlet.
People reading stories, whether in print or online.
I see it as having readers participate with us — commenting, writing letters, submitting guest columns, providing story tips, etc. — rather than simply reading our content.
Interacting with our readers through a variety of means, online, social media and in person.
people caring about the issues of the day
engaging my customers (readers and advertisers)
when someone is directly or indirectly interacting (thinking, responding, recommending, etc) with your brand/product/servce
feedback and participation from readers on content through Letters to the Editor and submissions.
What we've always been doing — talking to our readers about what's important to them and using it to design our coverage.
Giving the community an outlet to express ideas and concerns. Demonstrating a unified voice for the towns residents.
tracking reader responses thruogh letters/facebook and twitter responses
amount of time reading/viewing/listening and degree of interest
Active participation by users on a piece of content. Liking, Sharing, Commenting.
Haven't heard of it
Being involved
Active interaction between providers and consumers
Comments, shares, likes etc. as well as people coming up to me in the grocery store, coffee shop, emailing us or coming into the office to provide feedback on our work.
Interactive dialogue online with readers, publishing of their opinions online and in print
Focusing on news items of highest significance to our readers in order to engage them as much as possible.
An active relationship with readers
Nothing - just a buzzword
That the user's trying to make it sound as though s/he is really into something that nobody quite understands about online media yet. Or that it's involving the audience in our work.
The ability to make readers aware of what's happening, whether they have a good understanding of the matters or not
Meaningful connections with other humans
Making a connection. Having someone pickup and read our paper and then doing something about what they saw read.
Nothing
Connecting, communicating with readers directly and indirectly.
Connecting with your readers
Social media, email and direct contact with readers
The extremely stupid practice of chasing internet clicks and likes
Essentially, it means creating stories that draw readers to our page and to our site, and improving how we interact with them.
Creating and participating in discussions.
Page views. Also, likes and shares.
To have people actively interested in seeking out news, clicking like or reacting to posts on FB
Having a rapport with your audience so you have a healthy two-way exchange of information that reflects many viewpoints.
Engagement is government-speak for, "we're not going to pay any traditional media organization for advertising to promote a consultation process."
Keeping the reader interested
Using all platforms to reach readers
Having direct communication to our readership in real time
Two-way communication with audiences
It's a bullshit word. Just give people good stuff to read.
For our print publication it means creating a newspaper each week that reflects the community we serve. We have a diverse community, and want people to see themselves on our pages. We engage with people through interviews, photos and the opportunity to submit stories or letters to the editor. On-line, we want people to share and comment on our work through Facebook.
Being involved in the community
That the world is going to hell at the hands of marketing nitwits.
Using social media to interact with readers. I'd like to have more two-way interaction, but at my organization, social media is still being used to broadcast rather than have conversations with readers.
Getting and keeping readers.
Ensuring that readers are reading, interested and interacting with what we do. The mission hasn't changed since I started in the pre-digital era; the way of carrying it out has.
Connecting with readers through captivating, well researched and written works of journalism.
having readers invested in our paper, and our paper being invested in readers
Engaging and entertaining your work-related followers through social media, mostly Twitter.
audience engagement
Readers actually clicking through on a story instead of reading a headline on Facebook and firing off. (Unrealistic dream, I know.)
That it's always been important and some people are just realizing that now.
Reader feedback and involvement
Readers interacting with your work in a meaningful way, whether that be through Letters to the Editor, Facebook comments and shares, Twitter interactions or in-person interactions
Interacting with your readers and advertisers
Having our readers respond in any way, via any platform; positive or negative.
Stupid buzzword for talking and listening to the public, or getting them to follow us on social media.
Responding to readers whenever possible both on social media and in personal messages; brainstorming new ways to reach communities we don’t pay enough attention to.
Getting readers talking about what has been written
How our audience connects with what we produce and interacts with our staff.
Connecting with your readership
A two-way conversation between the newspaper and its readers
Making sure your audience is interacting with your content
Hits/page views. Nothing that actually benefits the reader or me.
Responsive audience
To occupy, attract, or involve our community.
engaged
Capturing a reader's interest in a topic and keeping it, having him or her interact with the story in some way, and react to it.
Reader reaction

8b. What, if any, types of audience engagement initiatives has your publication undertaken? (Select all that apply)

Answer Choices	Responses
Published pieces from community members (including op-eds and letters to the editor)	96.1%	122
Hosted an event such as a town hall, debate, or panel discussion on an issue affecting your community	29.9%	38
Launched an editorial campaign on an issue that is important to your community	43.3%	55
Created a community advisory board to advise on story ideas and/or the paper’s relationship with the community	6.3%	8
Employed a system to consult with community members on coverage, e.g., using online tools from Hearken or the Coral Project	4.7%	6
The publication has not launched any audience engagement initiatives	5.5%	7
Decline to answer	0.8%	1
Other (please specify)	14.2%	18
	Answered	127
	Skipped	0

Other (please specify)
Sponsorship of community events, donation of prizes, staff members volunteering at events, and with community organizations.
We have been interviewing local people who have had interesting lives or have done interesting things.
marleting opertunities ie: sidewals sale
Developped a Web platform to facilitate flow of information between community organizations
Solicit questions through social media to ask of interviewees; ask for story tips and feedback on coverage; have staff attend community functions and speak with people there.
We do community projects every month whether its helping to hand out hotdogs at the firehall during the halloween bonfire or talking to the high school writing class
Readers' survey conducted in 2017.
On our most controversial issues, we have at times sought guest columns from those on both sides of the issue. We have also asked for comments via Facebook.
A few yearly, in print format, contests.
Worked with other local media on an advisory council (which includes members of the public) on issues of discrimination and representation in the local media.
I have elementary students in a newspaper club writing articles for our paper as well as regular columns by knowledgeable community members and some who write for fun.
Hosts community events (i.e. Easter Egg Hunt) and supports community events (i.e. Summer Festival)
Constant social media engagement
Created various features, including our Community Leaders Awards, where we ask readers to nominate individuals, based on their leadership in the community, within different categories.
We've done some work with local schools helping students get their stories published in our weekly paper.
Having reporters and editors go to community events to actively ask opinions on matters of public interest.
By creating a newspaper with local news, week in and week out.
Inviting people to comment on articles

Topic 9: Engagement metrics and measurement

9a. Do you – or your newspaper – use metrics to measure audience engagement?

Answer Choices	Responses
Yes	77.95%	99
No	11.81%	15
I don't know	10.24%	13
Decline to answer	0.00%	0
	Answered	127
	Skipped	0

9b. Please select all metrics that apply.

	Personally use/measure		Organization uses/measures		Don't know		Total
Metrics software, e.g. Chartbeat, Google Analytics, Metrics for News.	27.45%	28	83.33%	85	11.76%	12	102
Social media likes/shares/follows	40.35%	46	85.09%	97	7.89%	9	114
Website unique visitors	23.42%	26	89.19%	99	6.31%	7	111
Engagement time / time on page	25.77%	25	79.38%	77	17.53%	17	97
Open rate (for newsletters)	8.51%	4	34.04%	16	65.96%	31	47
Attendance at events	25.93%	14	44.44%	24	44.44%	24	54
Print and Digital subscribers	21.21%	21	86.87%	86	10.10%	10	99
Number of members / donors	15.91%	7	25.00%	11	65.91%	29	44
Decline to answer	38.46%	5	30.77%	4	92.31%	12	13
Other (please specify)							5
						Answered	127
						Skipped	0

Other (please specify)
Do not have the time to engage in metrics
We don't have access to or money to get these tools.
Phone call, email and in-person interaction or invitations to events.
Facebook hits
Contest entries and surveys

9c. When do key performance metrics influence the way you produce a story?

Answer Choices	Responses
All the time	7.1%	9
Most of the time	9.5%	12
Some of the time	46.5%	59
None of the time	29.9%	38
Decline to answer	7.1%	9
	Answered	127
	Skipped	0

Topic 10. Future of Journalism

10a. How positive do you feel about the future of local newspapers?

Answer Choices	Responses
Very positive	17.3%	22
Slightly positive	33.1%	42
Neither positive nor negative	6.3%	8
Slightly negative	25.2%	32
Very negative	15.8%	20
Don’t know	2.4%	3
Decline to answer	0.0%	0
	Answered	127
	Skipped	0

10b. We recognize that money and time are scarce resources for newspapers in the digital age. Aside from these two factors, what is the biggest challenge facing small-market newspapers?(In our study, we’re defining this as publications with a print circulation under 50,000)

Answered	121
Skipped	6

Responses
Keeping audience attention on local news and finding the best ways to do that.
Competition for eyes and time - so many sources of information and it feels as though people are increasingly less focused on local matters - even when it does or should involve them directly.
Lack of mentors/training for reporters, lack of interest from readership
Rural depopulation. Government policies designed to remove all services from rural communities. Without services we lose our businesses who provide the advertising revenue.
advertising revenue
Declining readership
Economy and facebook
Getting people to realize the importance of supporting local businesses, who can then, in turn support our business with their advertising.
Maintaining relevance, ensuring that the community still views us as a needed and trusted source. We must do this by leading on the news side and not following others.
Lack of government advertising
Online news sources; people moving away from a newspaper subscription.
The reliance of government and others on Facebook and other "free" advertising on the internet as opposed to using subscription based local papers to advertise.
Declining ad revenue due to online sources
Learning and keeping up with technology. My readers have said if we cut out print they will not subscribe - they do not want digital.
convincing advertisers we're still relevant & helping them understand people who get our paper want it AND read it
Time & money are about it
Advertisers splitting their marketting budget between so many mediums
Reader fatigue and cynicism.
Cost of production
Engaging with younger readers.
Millennial Attitudes - that digital news comes magically
Negative attitude in people created by large market newspapers.
Monetizing the digital edition
The quality of graduates from journalism programs. Poor candidates, ill-prepared first time reporters. THAT is more of a detriment to our industry than digital. If the content is crap, the reader will not engage — on any platform.
Qualified community journalists who can walk the fine line between community reporting and objective reporting
The biggest challenge is showing people that we have a future. People hear messages about how the newspaper industry is in big trouble, and it filters down. Advertisers hear this message and they're less willing to advertise. Students coming out of journalism schools hear about papers that are closing. They don't hear about the opportunities that exist with weekly and small-city newspapers. And people don't see how many community newspapers are diversifying, through their websites and through podcasts.
Competition from online publications that may or not adhere to journalistic ethics and best practices and go for clicks above all else. Not only because they siphon off what little ad money is left after Google and Facebook, but because they force us emulate them (so varying extents) in order to retain our audience online and thus our advertisers. It's a slippery slope...
24 hour news cycle
Trying to explain the difference between a community newspaper and a daily newspaper with advertisers who keep insisting "print is dead".
The digital push in small communities is difficult because they're getting all of their information nationally and internationally somewhere else; they want our paper to hear about local news and to cut out the photo of their kid winning an award, so the digital transition has been difficult as it doesn't necessarily seem to be what a reader of a local newspaper in a small community really wants.
The biggest challenge today for small-market newspaper staff is finding the time and resources to engage multiple audiences (and demographics) on a variety of platforms.
It falls under resources, but it's the biggest threat: loss of staff. Our market is a very secure print product market, and that will likely not change in the next 15-20 years (based on demographics). The biggest threat is our staff (an editorial staff of one full-time reporter, and a shared editor with sister publications). It's harder and harder to put out a quality product when staff cuts keep coming.
Convincing people to pick up and read a newspaper.
trained staff
print media is dead is the biggest problem
The theft of news by online aggregators without penalty. The abandonment of local newspapers for provincial and federal government advertising. Digital revenue is nickels and dimes - at the local level there isn't enough cpm's to generate enough revenue to afford providing a quality product.
Competition for marketing dollars from socialmedia platforms
A corporate focus of monetizing online stories and advertising comes at a cost to our print editions, which clearly make the most money.
Businesses that resist print.
Aging readership, lifelong subscribers are generally 65+ younger audience doesn’t want to pay for new or ads
Declining circulation and ad revenue
People find 'news' everywhere
The expectation to produce too many stories without going deep enough into them
The biggest challenge I see is in showing our readers a print-primary, paid circulation newspaper is the best, most comprehensive source for local news.
Competing with larger newsrooms working within the same region. Being as fast, as foolproof as a newsrooms that are 10 times our size.
Advertising is going to be tough going forward, but we’re also facing issues with bloggers trying to do our jobs and taking eyeballs from our site, regardless of the standard employed by the upstarts.
Advertising dollars.
Misrepresentation of digital ad benefits, loss of provincial and local government advertising, loss of national/regional ads, aging population with lack of interest in Under 35 group in local news
that Facebook and Google have swallowed the web and are not subject to the same taxes, cost structure and legal obligations of real news generators
Keeping the unique identiy of a community newspaper separate from other forms of media. It is very unique in its content and responsibility to readers, yet too often judged in its importance while lumped in with all media.
Getting the respect of acedemics and other media when it comes to that quality of work we do. I'm sick of being told that when a poorly-read, money-losing daily closes that the community is now in a "news desert" when there is a high-quality, well-read and profitable community newspapers serving that market (and usually producing more local news than the daily was). Also, stop lauding the online opportunist who comes to town to start a website as the saviour of local journalism. Local journalism is alive and well without dailies and website. Weekly newspapers ARE Local Journalism.
Staffing replacement. The experience needed for ads sales, editors etc., makes it difficult to replace outbound staff
ad revenue decrease
For us, it would be declining subscriptions, as older subscribers die and aren't replaced by as many young people, who don't see as much value in paid newspapers.
advertising revenue
People not reading news.
Getting advertising
Finding people who are interested in writing- it is a declining skill
Distribution
Public perception that print is dead despite readership never being higher
Relying on Facebook (an advertising competitor) for website traffic, long-time reporters lacking digital skills, balancing all content being available for free online with subscriptions
Erosion of the market by inept moves made from newspaper chains. Cheapskating of resources by competitor has undermined print in our region
Doing more with less
Canada Post competiton for flyer business
Balancing online versus print... and how to make money online
Lack of staff. Companies that claim they're interested in content but make business decisions based solely on money & numbers. Lack of media literacy - what/why/how we do our jobs and why news reports are the way they are.
Lack of engagement from advertisers,
The demand for the print product and reputation that the paper is associated with old people/a past age.
More investigative journalists, beat reporters
Large corporate newspapers taking what we can not ever offer in the way of cost of advertising to keep our paper competitive and free
Starting the conversation with defending our relevance. Time off - we are a married business partners that haven't taken a week off publishing the paper in 10 years. I'm tired and a little burned out. There is no "locum" or temp agency that can do what we do. Declining advertising purchases. Cost of delivery (Canada Post)
Lack of reporters
Stemming the steep, steady decline of ad revenues and readership in the shift to new media. This results in a downward spiral that forces downsizing and economizing to the point where these gradually drive down the residual audience.
Understaffing makes it almost impossible to do good journalism anymore
Being taken for granted
Steady cuts to the newsroom in the chase for ever bigger profits for the bigwigs.
Public perception and understanding, newspapers and journalists sacrifcing standards for click, activist journalism casting the industry in a negative light as being biased.
The decision whether to be "first" with the news, given this digital age and the speed of social media and online publishing, or to hold back and do a better job of reporting the story before posting or printing the article.
Getting people to pay for the news, instead of getting it for free online.
Transforming a 158-year-old print edition business model into the digital space. Also—due to page view bench-marking—finding time to write important stories that will not perform well online such as mental health, local council, board meetings etc.
disinterest in local news, competition from larger news orgs.
Tackling big questions/investigation in the face of public's expectations to 'sweat the small stuff' too.
Our own coverage of the difficulties facing our industry. No one does stories on the rise and fall of pubs in our communities. If a pub closes, we don't say there's a problem with the business model of all pubs. The industry is shifting, but if we continually tell the public we're dead, they're going to start believing it. There are issues, no question, but the message needs to get out that we're not dead yet.
Lack of resources and reinvestment from our parent companies. We produce a product. It has declined in quality. We should be focused on reestablishing the quality of our product across all markets. Reads and engagement have not declined. Revenues have. So lets reinvest in the product, like any great R+D company would, and give our sales people something to sell.
Access to technology
Community journalists are overworked and underpaid. They are expected to do everything. I personally write copy for a 32-page paper on a weekly basis, usually writing 15–20 stories a week. Because of the time constraints, community journalists have very little time to do more in-depth reporting that could be more important and relevant to residents. Community papers are also filled with older male journalists with no training aside from work experience, which although that may be important, means they often have little adaptability or desire to change with the times.
A lack of investment by companies into newsroom resources - either technologically, training or staffing. There is a prevalence to make decisions that affect newsroom workloads without recognizing they do so. A new website needs "fresh content" for example, but for a weekly newspaper reporter that is more work and responsibility. Managing Facebook and other social media engagement is also a responsibility that does not get considered by those making decisions. I realize I am referencing money and time issues and that was not the question. Perhaps the other biggest challenge is change - there are those that embrace it and adapt and those that refuse and that has a significant effect on morale in a newsroom when you have those who are keen to engage being crushed by the sticks in the mud that hate social media/digital. The other biggest challenge is that newsrooms are not included in strategy discussions around the future - these are isolated conversations of middle management types and by not considering what reporters/editors can contribute their strategies fall flat and success is impossible.
Economic reality of transition to digital platform; shrinking resources
Chain ownership appears to have no idea how to grow readership. They continue to cut editorial costs and assume readers will magically materialize out of nowhere. They're perpetually behind the times, e.g. still trying to "pivot to video" even after that's been shown to destroy audience numbers.
Selling advertising
Learning how to implement new techniques - websites, social media
The loss of advertising revenue to digital platforms.
Getting people to pick up an actual print paper, even when they are free, and read and care about local issues. I'd like to see young people come back to print, and I think they might.
Competition from social media such as Facebook for news and advertising
Owners who aren't interested in producing quality journalism and who don't understand what it takes to do so.
Companies that continue to ignore the concerns of its editorial staff. We’re the ones on the ground. We know what our readers want, but owners continue to chase pie-in-the-sky ideas looking for quick wins they can turn into immediate profits. Local media is changing. We should be playing the long game. Management, companies and owners just aren’t listening.
Publishers believing in their product so that they will invest in it.
I can only speak from my experience with Postmedia and they're the biggest challenge facing small-market newspapers. In fact, they're the biggest threat to journalism in Canada.
Media illiteracy (ie: Mass-hysteria over "fake news")
advertisment
Media consolidation -- if a major company trades you away so another major company can close you down that's... pretty hard to come back from.
A new generation of reporters who are overworked, underpaid, often so rushed they make mistakes.
Maintaining reader trust
A lack of industry experience. As a new journalist starting out in a small market under a young editor, I have found it difficult to learn from existing reporters, because there are very few to fall back on in my coverage area. There is one other paper that covers my municipality, but they cover the sound end while I cover the North. Only rarely do we interact.
High profile competition unreasonably under selling our ad prices.
Maintaining and growing national advertising; particularly provincial and federal government advertising.
Retaining long-term staff. Many community newsrooms no longer have the veterans who have seen it all and done it all in the community. What happens when a mayor starts talking about an event from five years ago and not even your editor knows what the event was? You have to research and fact check what this was, but when a staff doesn't even have people from five years ago it's a problem. Also many small newspapers have websites that are terribleor selling ads online. Others have advertising staff that are from an older generation and don't understand what they can do with social media and web advertising. I know this doesn't apply to everyone, but it's incredibly frustrating when your advertising staff don't even have a Facebook account and you have to explain to them terms like viral, engagement, unique visitors, etc.
Concentrated ownership. Central pagination/layout done by people who have never been to our city, and make errors due to lack of local knowledge. Toronto-centric decisions that assume readers in all cities want the same things.
Bigger market competitor newspapers
I'd say the biggest challenge is the corporate ownership of Postmedia. Specifically, their debt has crippled the ability to grow with decisions being made to placate shareholders until their eventual bankruptcy. For example, if Postmedia has a bad quarter, the immediate reaction is to layoff employees, which puts more stress on existing staff by increasing workloads as the community loses more faith in a product that's being diminished. Little time or money is also spent on innovation and both small- and long-term goals are rarely communicated or properly developed.
Lack of focus on whether we're digital or print.
Convincing small/medium sized businesses that newspaper advertising is still affective and people still read the newspaper
Inability to access big provincial/national stories, even when focusing locally, we don't always have a way to get the background reporting we need or quotes, etc.
The decision between hyper local and provincial/audience based appeal. Our organization has opted for a provincial/national appeal approach which makes it harder to find local news on our website, but gives it a broader appeal
Management who are only interested in quantity, not quality.
Educating and engaging a new generation of readers, communicators and advertisers is our biggest challenge. People under a certain age really do not think of print media or their local ``newspaper`` and all its services (including editorial coverage and advertising) as an outreach tool. We are seeing this as local businesses change generations and the media people get younger and younger.
ability to manage both print & digital products
legislated advertising disappearing & ad contracts being siphoned off by corporate newspaper chains & their partner papers
Reader engagement - having them believe that print media and its accompanying journalistic talent is still vital and viable in today's communities.
retaining editorial/reporters
Public perception that quality journalism is dying

10c. What is the biggest opportunity for small-market newspapers?

Answered	119
Skipped	8

Responses
Being able to worry less about national/international news and focus on truly local reporting.
Re-emerge as beacons of democracy and truth in reporting amidst an era of large scale media frenzy and trust issues with corporate media. There is a chance to remind audiences that small-market newspapers deliver a scale of news that can't be found on social media OR larger dailies.
They are still producing most of the traditional journalism in any market. There needs to be more work done to get community/local government involved.
Small newspapers still have a lot of influence. They have to be very focussed on local issues and raise hell.
new resources
New generation of potential readers
adjusting to the economy and focus on local
Local news! No one outside our community cares about the art awards won by our grade 3 student, etc.
To grow a partnership with our community that builds on the past but embraces the future.
Digital
Covering stories no one else does/will.
To attract attention to the advantages of rural life and tell the stories of local people and events that nobody else covers in a reliable way.
Staying local
local coverage
The decline of daily newspapers. Source for local news
focus on local
We have the opportunity to engage people like never before, if we actually make the effort.
Only paper in vicinity
digital
I don't know
the demise of facebook
Distance ourselves from big media by offering a local flavour.
No one else serves - or understands - our town the way we do.
Hyper-local content. We are the closest to the community, the people and events. Front line coverage with more responsibility than the 'parachute-in' larger media.
Flexibility and the ability to offer expertise in communication. For example, we have sponsored a communication workshop for employees of community organizations who deal with communications.
The biggest opportunity comes through diversity. It's not just about releasing a paper one or two times a week. Papers can have a website where they post breaking stories, with a promise for more information in the next edition. They can use their talents to post videos, photo albums and podcasts. And they can use their websites to increase their revenues through advertising.
The big provincial and national outlets don't tend to cover the local issues that our readers care about. So long as those outlets keep ignoring our audience, we remain relevant. Digital outlets similarly tend to skew towards big-city issues, "cute cat vidoeos" and listicles, again leaving us with a niche to fill. The key, of course, is to market our industry so people think to look to us rather than the bigger outlets so they don't feel that "the media" is ignoring them and biased towards whatever is happening in the major urban centres. Say what you will about those online shops (Daily Hive, for example), but they're very good at engaging their audience and marketing themselves to potential readers. Small-market papers could learn a thing or two from their success.
More opportunity to interact with the community
Working to retain and gain new advertisers who want to be aligned with a truth-speaking, independently-owned community newspaper both in print and online.
We live in a rural area where competitors are closing which is making us more relevant to a larger area for "local news," which opens up more advertising potential. We also live in an area where people travel to the city for bulk items like groceries and more meaning it would benefit them to advertise in a small-town paper to attract those that travel to the cities to shop.
Small-market newspapers often have a dedicated readership. In our case, our newspaper is over 110 years old. If we stopped printing our newspaper there would be riots in the streets (good for news, not so good for our reputation).
Reinvesting in local, community-driven news. We don't need the fanciest or newest technologies to tell a good story. Community newspaper reporters are driven and can do a lot with very little. We need to double down on what the community wants to read and see - engaging photos, interesting and informative stories, and occasional videos.
Social media reach provides great advertising for a newspaper company as being the best source of reliable news for a community.
There is no one else but community newspapers that covers small markets
Teaching our clients about how we're not dead and our new digital marketing
Getting advertisers to realize that big numbers does not equal interested readers. Advertisers should be made aware that small #s mean you have a committed and focused readership.
Our overheads are realtively manageable. If we can get past this digital shiny ball attitude and people realize the value of supporting local journalism we will have a good future.
Digital revenue
Focusing on unique stories that large media ignore. (Sadly, by posting everything for free online, unique stories are often poached by competition.)
Continue to focus on what they do well in being the only tangible source of hyper-local news in their communities
Only we can write the stories that mean something, that people care about - because we are part of the community.
Looking at alternative revenue streams - advertising on Facebook. Small, cheap adverts with big reach.
Digital revenue
Continuing to produce hyper-local content that speaks to readers in small markets.
We know our community better than anyone else, so we can address complex local stories in more depth than anyone else.
No news resource knows a community like its community newspaper. When push comes to shove, folks turn to us to tell them what's going on in their neighbourhood. We are reliable and we are familiar.
We can do local better than anyone else.
Reporting the local news.
Local news = Niche product
continuing in print
To represent its community in a way that no other media format can. In doing so, proving its irreplaceable value to readers and advertisers.
To leverage the targeted access we have to our communities in a volume that no other media (including Google and Facebook) can offer.
Small town news can not be obtained online. We still have a service to provide to the community that they can not get online
reader support opportunities
We're truly local, and have coverage that no other newspapers/radio/TV organizations have.
provision of unique, curated content
Covering communities that larger publications don't cover.
I think we have to keep news stories community focused and hope that by doing so, we'll get advertising back in return..
To make a difference in their host community by providing timely, accurate and unbiased information to diffuse drama caused by misinformation and misunderstanding.
Government participation in advertising
To capitalize and a whole new group of digital consumers
Not willing to discuss this anonymously, would want a formal discussion setting
Hyper local news: material people can't get anywhere else
We have the on the ground relationahip to the community.
Growth of digital audience and advertising revenue
We're local and people trust us
To do local, exclusive journalism that matters.
Community still supports local journalism
Trust and the local knowledge of newsrooms. People here consistently ask the reporters questions.
Local, deeper relationships with readership, most small communities are heavily digitally connected.
That no one else is doing what we are doing. No one knows their community better, with the trust and reliability that we have. Ask a farmer local doesn't need to be fast, we get it done right - without sensationalizing the story.
Engaging community as best they can while building their online reach, but digital advertising alone cannot sustain them.
They've got to try. Endless cutting isn't going to make anything better.
Philanthropy
We are the only ones covering the topics that we cover. Remaining local is key.
Remaining hyperlocal and offering quality unique content that can't be obtained elsewhere.
The fact that we are needed - there are very few other online resources in small markets that can fill the void left by the demise of a local newspaper.
There is lots of things happening in rural areas, if only we can stay on top of it all.
It's an uphill battle demanding an incredible amount of hard work. If we survive the next two years, all of that hard work will be evident within the community and solidify our brand for a long time to come.
Interest in local news
Having a close relationship with its readers, so you know the landscape better than bigger competitors.
Independently owned small-market newspapers need to make their move. Every community has potential to support a local paper, but might not be able to support one that has to pass money up the 'chain'. When a chain-owned paper shuts down, there's maybe a three to four month (tops) window where someone, perhaps the former staff, should be making a move to fill the void left in the public hearts. Advertisers and readers have short memories. The longer anyone takes to fill those gaps, the more people will adapt or shrug their shoulders and move on, never remembering that they used to have a local news source.
The advancement of the "fake news" narrative. Attack it. Reinvest in your product and increase training opportunities for employees. Make us better, more informed journalists, and more of your community newspapers will have the confidence to attack key and relevant issues. Visit a community newsroom and one of the biggest headaches for the small town politics reporter, the regional politics reporter, is a lack of knowledge, or confidence in their knowledge to face down the arguments and skilled communicators they will face. And we do not have the knowledge base within our management to support our reporters. Instead of shrugged shoulders from editors, it would be nice to get, "It is like this, don't let them tell you that, go get em..."
Niche content
Younger journalists.
Small market newspapers are where grassroots journalism lives and this is where the big markets look to for things to cover. Breaking news and doing good journalism is the biggest opportunity but if you keep it isolated inside the pages of a print product you lose out on new ways of telling stories and sharing those stories to even larger audiences.
Intense engagement with local audiences; earn loyalty
There's an opportunity to do more longform and investigative work, plus value-added products like podcasts, if (it's a big if) ownership was willing to invest in content.
Concentrate on local news
To learn, move forward and hang in there
The legitimacy of providing authoritative, independent news.
Community newspapers are still breaking stories. From the heart-felt community interest stories, to the city council meetings we cover, these small papers are still where news is born. I think community news needs to really dig in and break the stories, dig deep in investigative journalism, and prove to readers in a shrinking market that we are worth their investment. There needs to be a focus on quality, because we can't keep up with a small workforce in the ever-changing and growing internet marketplace.
People recognizing that it matters where they get their news from.
The chance to create the kind of "hyper-local" content that will keep people loyal to us, interested in us and engaged with us.
Producing quality hyper local news stories. This means the stories that larger outlets won’t go for. The ones that take time and resources. In the end that’s what will keep our readers engaged.
Providing reliable local coverage that readers can trust and count on, unlike Facebook.
I can only speak in personal terms here. The town where I am has only one newspaper. So, there's, literally, opportunity at every corner but, in my opinion, Postmedia only puts time, money and resources into its daily newspapers.
do not know
Major digital publishers will never care that much about what's going on in the Prince Georges and Tabers of the world -- local media are still putting out information that communities need to function for which there are not going to be a lot of sources. That remains valuable, even if the economics are mostly ???? right now.
To tell the community the stories within it.
Hyper-local coverage
Local news. Although hyper-local is a ridiculous buzzword in some senses, there is a strong opportunity for community papers to become hyper-local. We can't compete with Global or CKNW or other big-city newsrooms. But we can remember to use our local connections to bring forward stories that people in our community really care about: sports features, local profiles, etc.
Local connection and long term relationships with readers and clients
I like to say we are not selling newspapers, we are selling content. Whether that content is available on newsprint or online, people will continue to pay to read it, providing it a) is fresh, local and accurate, and b) can't be found anywhere else.
Just report the news. People in small markets are DESPERATE to know what's going on in their home town. I know this sounds like a "no shit" answer, but I see a lot of local papers trying to get "engagement" with gimmicks (let's send a reporter to belly dance and write about it instead of writing about the belly dancer herself). PEOPLE. DON'T. CARE. They want to know what happened and is happening. Many of these communities are rife with potential stories of even national interest that end up lost.
Emphasizing hyper-local issues. We still have the biggest newsroom in our market, and readers really love it when we do dedicate time to projects with a strong local focus.
Growth of the industry
I feel the biggest opportunity is a possible return of local ownership. With Postmedia’s significant financial problems, the chance for local ownership seems likelier than in the past decade. I find readers feel disconnected to their local or regional papers with more emphasis being placed on national stories as staffing levels decline. The crux of local newspapers is the ability to cover local stories no one else is reporting on. If local ownership were to return, I feel it’d be the first important step in regaining trust from the community with increased staffing and the ability to cover more stories also helping.
The strength of our connection to our communities.
Working with small and medium sized businesses with limited marketing dollars...same goes for non-profits
A focus on community and knoweldge to dig deeper. Newspapers are one of the only media that lets you really put a lot of work and present a 2000-word piece with multiple sources. It just doesn't read well on the web.
Capitalizing on locality - we are often the only people reporting on this market consistantly and having that local background and knowledge makes our news appealing. Not to mention we're the only place you can go to find news that is local.
Social media presence.
We are always looking for new opportunities - we have, in the past three years added events, successfully undertaken subscriptions drives for our controlled circulation paper and looked (unsuccessfully) to our online presence to generate revenue (not enough volume). Winning the hearts and souls of a new generation is our biggest challenge/opportunity.
Combining resources to take on corporate competition for advertising $$
Lean start-ups focussed on hyper-local
Going bigger on digital platforms - costly and difficult to find manpower.
covering local news events
Online video

About your publication

In which province/territory is your publication located?

Answer Choices	Responses
Ontario	31.50%	40
British Columbia	30.71%	39
Alberta	18.11%	23
Saskatchewan	12.60%	16
Manitoba	2.36%	3
Nova Scotia	1.57%	2
Newfoundland and Labrador	0.79%	1
Northwest Territories	0.79%	1
Prince Edward Island	0.79%	1
Yukon	0.79%	1
New Brunswick	0.00%	0
Nunavut	0.00%	0
Quebec	0.00%	0
Decline to answer	0.00%	0
	Answered	127
	Skipped	0

What geographic region or city/town is served by your publication? (If you choose to answer this question, the information will not be linked in the final research report to any other answers)

Answered	116
Skipped	11

Responses
Answers withheld for privacy reasons

Do you identify as Indigenous?

Answer Choices	Responses
Yes	1.57%	2
No	94.49%	120
Decline to answer	3.94%	5
	Answered	127
	Skipped	0

Do you identify as a member of a visible (racialized) minority group?

Answer Choices	Responses
Yes	3.15%	4
No	92.91%	118
Decline to answer	3.94%	5
	Answered	127
	Skipped	0

Do you consider your publication to be part of the ethnic media in Canada?

Answer Choices	Responses
Yes	3.94%	5
No	91.34%	116
Decline to answer	4.72%	6
	Answered	127
	Skipped	0

What language does your publication print in?  (Please select all that apply)

Answer Choices	Responses
English	98.43%	125
French	3.15%	4
Language spoken by an Indigenous group in Canada	0.00%	0
Arabic	0.00%	0
Chinese simplified/Chinese traditional	0.00%	0
Farsi	0.79%	0
German	0.00%	0
Hindi	0.00%	0
Italian	0.00%	0
Korean	0.00%	0
Polish	0.00%	0
Portuguese	0.00%	0
Punjabi	0.00%	0
Russian	0.00%	0
Spanish	0.00%	0
Tagalog	0.00%	0
Tamil	0.00%	0
Urdu	0.00%	0
Vietnamese	0.00%	0
Decline to answer	0.00%	0
Other (please specify)	2.36%	3
	Answered	127
	Skipped	0

Other (please specify)
We run a Gaelic column once a month
French on occasion in Advertising
Small about of provided French copy

Please select all that apply to your publication’s funding.

Answer Choices	Responses
Ad-supported	93.7%	119
Freely distributed	56.7%	72
Subscription required	42.5%	54
Crowdfunded	0.8%	1
Foundation-funded	1.6%	2
Ticket revenue from events	0.8%	1
Decline to answer	0.8%	1
Other	11.8%	15
	Answered	127
	Skipped	0

Other (please specify)
some counter sales plus grants
Canadian Periodical Fund
Federal government aid to publishers
Government programs
self-funded
Student fees
Our news is available for free online and part of the print product is freely distributed but we also have print and digital subscriptions
Daily is paid subscription; weeklies are free
It's a Postmedia paper
Voluntary subscriptions
optional subscriber program
Voluntary subscriptions available
Our Thursday paper is wide-circulation. Other four are paid. Circ. on the Thursday is 26,200, daily is about 3,000
volunteer subscription program in place.
Mix of subscriptions, newsstand sales and ad revenue

How many full-time editorial staff does your newsroom have?

Answer Choices	Responses
1	28%	36
2	22%	28
3	15%	19
4	10%	13
5	6%	7
6-10	9%	11
11-15	2%	2
16-20	3%	4
More than 20	2%	2
Decline to answer	4%	5
	Answered	127
	Skipped	0

Are you the owner/proprietor of your publication?

Answer Choices	Responses
Yes	27.56%	35
No	70.87%	90
Decline to answer	1.57%	2
	Answered	127
	Skipped	0

How would you characterize the ownership of your paper?(Please select all that apply)

Answer Choices	Responses
Owned by a national newspaper chain	22.1%	28
Owned by a regional newspaper chain	30.7%	39
Owned by a hedge fund/non-journalism company	5.5%	7
Government owned	0.0%	0
Locally / Community owned	12.6%	16
Family owned	36.2%	46
Don’t know	0.0%	0
Decline to answer	0.0%	0
Other (please specify)	11.0%	14
	Answered	127
	Skipped	0