Daily Newspaper Stopping Publication after 80 Years

THUNDER BAY – Business –The daily news for tens of millions has been, for decades found in the daily newspaper. In Kamloops, British Columbia, after eighty years of publication, the Kamloops Daily News has announced that the paper will stop production in the next sixty days.

Glacier Media, the parent company of the Daily News has provided notice under Section 54 of the B.C. Labour Code to Unifor, representing the unionized staff at the paper, that it intends to close the newspaper within the next 60 days. The reason for the closure is economic — revenues have declined and The Daily News has been unable to reduce expenses sufficiently to continue as a viable operation.

Glacier will be meeting with the union to discuss the implications of the closure.

Realities of Industry Too Great to Overcome

“Personally I am very saddened to make this announcement,” said Daily News publisher Tim Shoults in a statement issued by the company. “We have struggled for the last several years, worked tirelessly and taken many difficult steps along the way which were designed to ensure our future. Unfortunately the realities of our industry, our local advertising market and our labour situation were too great for us to overcome.

“We recognize that this decision severely affects our staff and their families and our hearts go out to them as they deal with the shock and loss this decision creates. We are offering our staff counseling on site at the Daily News if they wish to take advantage of it,” adds Shoults. “We have accomplished some great things along the way and have made our community a better place to live in countless ways. Over the years we have supported hundreds of community groups with millions of dollars in free advertising and helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for worthy causes through our Raise a Reader and Christmas Cheer campaigns. Most importantly, we have made our community more informed and more enlightened through award-winning coverage for decades.”

Industry in Transition

The news business, as a whole is one that remains in transition. Newsprint was once the king of the hill. All one has to do, in communities across Canada is look at the market for newsprint. Increased costs, and falling demand coupled with changing technology is impacting many operations in the print business. In 2013, however there were also more magazines started overall in the market.

The change toward an ever growing digital market for news has been difficult for many traditional newspapers to overcome. As the market changes, the shift is likely to go even faster.

Sadly, because a daily newspaper is an important part of every community, it is likely that The Daily News in Kamloops will not be the only newspaper that is closing its doors.