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Funds Sought to Support Local Media
On Feb. 21, 2025 Glacier Media, the parent company to the Burnaby Now, New Westminster Record and Tri-City News, announced the closure of all three community papers due to “financial challenges.” The Tri-City News closed its doors on April 21 , 2025 just ahead of the Federal election. According to the Save Our Local News website, “Like many communities across Canada, we are now facing a news desert in a region with over 500,000 residents.”
Nancy Furness – Local Journalism Initiative
Unifor Local 2000 expressed concern with Glacier Media’s plan to keep all non-union websites open and continue to print the non-union North Shore News and Delta Optimist, while shutting down unionized websites. On June 4, 2025 the Union Cooperative Initiative and Unifor Local 2000 announced the launch of the Save Our Local News campaign.
Four founding journalists Theresa McManus, Mario Bartel, Cornelia Naylor and Janice Cleugh with over 100 years of collective local journalism, hope to initiate the launch of the new co-op style media in the fall of 2025.
Janis Cleugh, a reporter for 27 years with the Tri-City News, spoke with We’ve Got Issues host Nancy Furness to share her thoughts on the initiative. Janis says local media is important, “It’s community building. It’s important in today’s society especially, that we connect with each other.” She adds, “This is how we grow, we evolve.”
Janis says the reporters at the new co-op media group will be held accountable by their readers and are looking forward to engaging with the community. The co-op will be worker-led, with a Board of Directors, an Executive Director and Editorial, Advertising, and Distribution departments. The launch may be digital with a paper distribution to high-traffic areas, followed by a transition to paper-based. Long-term sustainability will be supported through advertising, grants, donations, and subscriptions.
Janis has a passion for Arts and Education and looks forward to covering Education, and Arts, theatre and events on a regional scale once the paper launches.
The Save Our Local News Campaign is currently in a fund-raising mode. You can support the initiative by donating at: https://saveourlocalnews.ca/
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The Tri-Cities Community Television Society is a Not-For-Profit organization in Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam and Port Moody, BC, offering training in media production skills and provides an opportunity for community voices to be heard.
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