(Image Credit: CFJC News)

By Sydney Chisholm

Kamloops this week

As Kamloops This Week winds down, staffers begin to hatch plans for a new newspaper

Oct 25, 2023 | 5:46 PM

KAMLOOPS – “Today is Wednesday, October 25, 2023. A momentous day in Kamloops This Week’s legacy; our final printing day, our final publication day,” Christopher Foulds, former Kamloops This Week editor, said.

Kamloops’ last newspaper is shutting its doors after 35 years in business.

“It’s been kind of a whirlwind couple of weeks here. With the paper closing, as we’ve gotten closer to the day, you just kind of start to realize things more,” Michael Potestio, former Kamloops This Week reporter, told CFJC News. “Just the gravity of the newspaper winding down. You get your low moments and then you try and pick yourself up every once in a while, just trying to push through.”

Since making the announcement last week, staff said they have received an outpouring of support.

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“Based on the responses we’ve had from our announcement of closing, which have been overwhelming, simply overwhelming, hundreds and hundreds of responses by text, by email, phone calls in person,” Foulds said. “We know we have an older population. I believe it’s 61 per cent of the population is older than 55. I stand to be corrected, but someone told me that and that factors into it because a lot of people, they want a newspaper.”

Potestio said he had no idea the impact the paper had until last week.

“I didn’t really know until we announced publicly that we were closing really what people thought of us,” said Potestio. “It was really heartwarming to see just the amount of support and just the outpouring of love that I’ve seen for this paper since we’ve announced that we won’t we won’t be here anymore.”

While the staff took time in the final edition to share some closing thoughts with the community, they hope it’s not goodbye forever.

“There is a group of us, 10 or 12 of us, and we have been meeting – we met for three hours this past weekend,” Foulds recalled. “We’re continuing to work on a plan to start a new newspaper. That may sound ridiculous to some people, but we think it can work with the proper model.“

While uncertainty persists around a new paper in the Tournament Capital, the team behind Kamloops This Week is determined to explore any and all options.

“Kamloops is my hometown and the thought of it having one less news source, it doesn’t sit well with me,” Potestio said. “I know we’d have to rethink the newspaper model. It might be a smaller operation, leaner, meaner. But I’d be willing to do whatever I can to help it get off the ground, and if that means it does get off the ground and I can be a part of it, that’d be great.”

Kamloops This Week’s website is also closing.

Staff are hosting an open house between 1:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 26, for those who want to stop in and say goodbye. The office is located at 1365 Dalhousie Drive.