Community Newspapers Using New Media to Generate Revenue

More than ever, community newspapers throughout BC and Yukon are making use of new media to supplement their traditional revenue streams.  Blogs rich with local content are a great way for community newspapers to connect with their readers on an even more timely basis than their print editions or even their online editions.  Immediate, relevant information can be conveyed to readers through a blog or Twitter in a matter of seconds, rather than hours or days.

BC Blogs, powered by BCLocalNews.com, a Black Press project, is a source for a variety of different locally-based blogs from throughout the province.

Yukon News makes use of RSS feeds to allow their online readers to subscribe to any new content in three different categories.  This guarantees their readers will return to their site, generating traffic.  They also use Facebook and Twitter to connect with their readers on an ongoing basis.

Another great source for locally-based blogs is the Canwest Communities site.

Alfie Lau of the Burnaby Now runs a highly entertaining local blog called “Cheap Shots” that generates traffic, advertising revenue, and lots of laughs.

Black Press Acquires Several Glacier Papers

Glacier Media has agreed to sell 11 community newspapers to Black Press in British Columbia.  The Trail Daily Times, the Creston Valley Advance, the Fernie Free Press, the Grand Forks Gazette, the Nelson Daily News, the (West Kootenay) Weekender, the Prince Rupert Daily News, Quesnel Advisor, Cariboo Advisor, 100 Mile House Advisor and the Coast Mountain Advisor were all part of the sale.

Read more about the Black Press community newspaper acquisition here.

BCYCNA Membership Hits a Record High

The BCYCNA is pleased to welcome another three community papers to our membership: The Cranbrook Daily Townsman, Kimberley Daily Bulletin and the Bowen Island Undercurrent.

The Cranbrook Daily Townsman is owned by the Glacier Media Group and publishes four times each week.  The Townsman has served Cranbrook and the entire Columbia Valley since 1946.

The Kimberley Daily Bulletin, also a Glacier-owned paper, is Canada’s smallest daily newspaper.  The Bulletin has served Kimberley Monday to Friday since 1932.

The Bowen Island Undercurrent is a Black Press-owned weekly publication serving BC’s first island municipality.  The Undercurrent made its debut in 1975.

The BCYCNA would like to extend a warm welcome to our newest members!

2010 BCYCNA Ma Murray Awards Gala Highlights

The BC & Yukon Community Newspapers Association held its annual BCYCNA-Bell Ma Murray Community Newspaper Awards on Saturday, April 10, 2010 at the River Rock Casino Resort in Richmond.

As is tradition, this year’s Gala weekend started off with the CN Scholarship Luncheon, where the BCYCNA handed out $24,000 to college and university students from all over British Columbia. The chosen students all hope to pursue careers in community newspapers, in the fields of applied communications, graphic design, journalism, sales and marketing.

The weekend also included a BCYCNA Board of Directors meeting, as well as the Association’s Annual General Meeting.

On Saturday evening, 315 guests enjoyed hors d’oeuvres and drinks the Catalyst Paper President’s Reception before being invited into the River Rock Show Theatre to say farewell to outgoing BCYCNA president Scott Nelson and to welcome new BCYCNA president Lorne Doerkson, who then introduced the 2010-2011 BCYCNA Board of Directors.

The Awards Gala Dinner then kicked off with a welcome from our emcees, Global TV’s Randene Neill and very funny comedian Roman Danylo, followed by a scrumptious three-course meal and plenty of wine. After dinner, we mixed things up a bit and made some early presentations. Brian McCristall, retired publisher of the Tri-City News, was honoured with a Lifetime Membership to the BCYCNA, and 100-year-old Edgar Dunning was presented with the Eric Dunning Integrity Award.

Before moving onto the awards presentation, MC Roman Danylo switched hats and entertained the crowd with his interactive comedy set that included “performances” by Candy Hodson of Black Press, Steve Robertson of the Yukon News, Peter Kvarnstrom of Glacier Media, and Catherine Power-Chartrand of the Whistler Question. Very funny stuff - thanks to everyone for being such good sports!

The Gala then rolled forward into the formal awards presentation, and the BCYCNA was delighted to hand out 43 more beautiful statues to deserving winners from all over BC and Yukon. In fact, all of our papers did wonderfully and should be very proud! All awards were well-received and will surely be proudly displayed in community newspaper offices all over the Western region.

Of course, the celebration didn’t end with the awards – it never does! As usual, when the Gala was over, everyone moved back into the Theatre Lounge to keep the party going! Dancing, mingling, drinks, snacks and a DJ make for a great party, and this one continued right till the end. For those with extra energy, it even carried on up in the Presidential Suite on the ninth floor.

The 2010 Ma Murray Community Newspaper Awards were an overwhelming success – possibly our best ever, if we may say so ourselves! The BCYCNA would like to thank our title sponsor, Bell, as well as our major event sponsors, BCLC, CN, and Catalyst Paper, for their continued support of the community newspaper industry. We would also like to thank all of our awards sponsors: BCAA, BC Arts Council, the Black family, Canada Post, Curve Communications, Glacier Media, Horizon Publications, Hub International, International Web Express, New Car Dealers Association of BC, Port Metro Vancouver, TELUS, Thompson Rivers University School of Journalism, Tinhorn Creek Vineyards, and WorkSafeBC.

Next year’s event will happen alongside the national CCNA and CNA convention and Awards Competition, on April 30, 2011!

Watch this space for video highlights to come soon.

Click the attachment for the full list of winners! winners-announce-2010

Gold Medal for our monthly winners!

The BCYCNA monthly member draw has not been announced for a while but the sales teams are booking ads faster than Alexandre Bilodeau is on skis. We have December, January and February winners to hand out. The following eager individuals have been selected to win the $500 monthly draw.

December - Kelly Pownall, Canwest Community Classifieds
January - Cameron Northcott, Burnaby Now
February - Kristy O’Connor, BC Classifieds (Black Press)

Once again, the BCYCNA hopes you and your team will continue to encourage one another with this campaign. ln order to qualify for the cash prize, all you have to do is sell the BCYCNA’s Community Classifieds! Every time you or a member of your team sells an ad, his/her name automatically goes in the hat for the monthly draw.

BCYCNA members win SNA contest

After much anticipation, Suburban Newspapers of America announced the winners of the 2009 Editorial Contest. Newspapers all over North America submitted their best and brightest work – this included several of BCYCNA member papers. Judged by the Journalism Department faculty of Loyola University Chicago, School of Communication, this year’s contest heralded magnificent results.

Black Press received an outstanding 55 winning entries. Some of the big winners among individual weekly publications include the Peace Arch News with 8 awards, North Shore Outlook with 7, and Abbotsford News also with 7 awards. In the category of Weekly Newspaper Groups the top award went to Black Press with 39 awards! For the complete winners’ list, please click to view by category HERE.

The winners will be recognized at the 2010 Fall Publishers’ & Advertising Directors’ Conference.

Canwest’s would-be suitors

Since October 2009, one of Canada’s largest international media companies Canwest, owner of several BCYCNA member newspapers, has been operating under creditor protection as part of the process to recapitalize the company.

Some analysts expect that the media conglomerate will sell assets or be broken up entirely as the restructuring process continues, in part because the publishing division has a separate set of lenders. The Financial Post, a Canwest subsidiary, came out with an article with possible suitors for the struggling company – it was posted on thevancouversun.com this week. Some of these potential buyers include Quebecor Inc., Transcontinental Inc., Alberta Investment Management Corp. (AIMCo.) and Glacier Media Inc.

For a full list of the would-be buyers pros and cons – click HERE.

Two new members for the BCYCNA

The BCYCNA is pleased to welcome two new papers to our membership. Both Black Press publications, the Nelson Star and the Northern View bring our total to a record 117 members!

The Nelson Star, which published its first edition in July 2008, reaches the Kootenay communities of Nelson, Bonnington, Balfour, Kaslo, and Crawford Bay.

The Northern View, based out of Prince Rupert, began publishing in May 2006, and reaches residents in Port Edward, Prince Rupert, the surrounding First Nations villages, the Queen Charlotte Islands/Haida Gwaii, the Hazeltons, Hartley Bay, and Dease Lake.

The BCYCNA would like to extend a warm welcome to our newest members!

The Campaign is Over

Yes, the 2009 BC election campaign is over, but we are referring to the BCYCNA initiative to sell the Community Classifieds.

The end of April meant the end of this campaign, so we thank all BCYCNA members and their classifieds sales team for all their hard work, enthusiasm and support. We would like to congratulate Pat Shearer of The Yukon News, who was our March winner of $500, as well as Kristy O’Connor from BC Classifieds (Black Press), who won the overall prize of $1,000. Kristy successfully booked 170 ads over the course of this campaign! Way to go everyone for all the extra effort.

The “buy-three-ads-and-get-the-fourth-one-free” promotion generated great interest as the overall Community Classifieds ad placement increased. The result was so favourable, in fact, that the BCYCNA Board has extended this fourth-free trial until further notice.

So keep on selling!