Local media outlets under financial strain as advertising businesses close their doors

The reporters at the twice-weekly newspaper Kamloops This Week are mostly working from home.

Despite an uptick in online readership, advertising dollars have slowed to a trickle.

“As a result our revenues are pretty significantly affected,” Shoults said.

The paper has moved to a temporary once-a-week publication schedule. While he wouldn’t provide a number, Shoults says there have been layoffs within the company.

Kamloops This Week is now asking the public for help.

“This has prompted us to move forward with the voluntary paid program,” Shoults said. “The initial response has been really positive. I’m not in a position to share numbers, our ownership has asked me not to at this point. We will be thanking all the individual donors as they come in and you’ll see that in next week’s Kamloops This Week.”

Stingray Radio, which owns Radio NL, has temporarily laid off 90 employees across the country. All of its employees have taken a 10 per cent wage cut, while the company’s CEO has had his wage rolled back by 75 per cent.

The Jim Pattison Broadcast Group has more than 700 employees at media outlets across western Canada, including those at CFJC News, CFJC Today, and radio stations B100 and CIFM.

President Rod Schween says layoff will be the last option.

“We are feeling at this point we should be able to take advantage of some of the federal subsidies that will be available, the wage subsidy,” he said. “I don’t think we’ll qualify for March just based on when things hit, when advertising revenues began to take a downturn, but we do feel, unfortunately we’ll be able to qualify for it in April and May, so that will be a big step to help us keep going.”

Schween says local news is essential in the time of a crisis.

“In a lot of ways we’ve ramped up our services on that side, obviously our teams are still needing to be in, working hard, trying to obviously follow the recommendations of public health as much as we possibly can in providing our essential services.”

Sun Peaks Independent News puts out its printed publication 13 times a year and updates its website regularly.

The small operation is the community’s only completely local news outlet.

“Kamloops media does cover Sun Peaks, but from a different angle than we do,” publisher Brandi Schier said. “We’re embedded in the community and we’re there primarily reporting for our residents.”

When Sun Peaks Resort closed up on March 15, many businesses stopped advertising.

As a result, Sun Peaks Independent News is asking its readers to purchase a membership.

As of this morning, the initiative had raised nearly 30 per cent of its goal.

“We’re trying to do something that’s going to be sustainable into the future for our community, and for Kamloops as well, and really trying to be a model,” Schier said.

“If this can work in Sun Peaks, it can work in other places too.”

by Jill Sperling

Local media outlets under financial strain as advertising businesses close their doors

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