‘No longer viable, nor sustainable’

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This article was published 18/12/2024 (263 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba’s “Hub of the North” will have to find another venue in which to express its regional importance once Thompson’s only newspaper publishes its last edition Friday.

The Thompson Citizen, which has been owned by Vancouver-based Glacier Media Inc. since 2007, has been downsizing for many years and rumours of its demise had circulated for some time.

Noah Cooke, general manager and publisher, said he and two remaining Citizen staffers have been offered other positions with Glacier.

While the demise of another print newspaper (which had a robust online presence) is not surprising, the Citizen was not just an important source of news and information for the northern city of 13,000, but also for many surrounding communities.

“It was on the train every week, and people in places like Thicket Portage and Pikwitonei and all the Bay Line communities are really going to miss it,” said Thompson Mayor Colleen Smook, adding she only heard about its imminent closure this week.

“If they would have let us know they were thinking about doing this, we could have rallied for support,” she said. “If money was the issue or whatever it was, we definitely would be behind them to keep it here.”

She said the City of Thompson would reach out to Glacier to see if anything could be done to keep the paper going.

Cooke said it was never a matter of community support.

“The community here is wonderful; their support has been great,” he said Wednesday. “But it has just got to the point where it’s not really sustainable in the future.”

Longtime editor Ian Graham left the paper take a communications position with the city in 2023. When he started there about 16 years ago, there was a staff of 12; when he left, three people were employed.

“It was something that was eventually going to happen,” Graham said.

“It was something that was eventually going to happen.”–Ian Graham, former editor

Once the Citizen closes shop, Thompson will be left with just one local news department: radio station CHTM (610 AM/102.9 FM).

CBC radio used to produce two hours of programming in Thompson through CBC North Country, but hasn’t for a few years. Native Communications Inc. also used to operate a local radio station.

“Sadly, it is a reflection of the difficult landscape faced by local media in this day and age,” said Gordon Brewerton, vice-president and group publisher of Glacier’s Prairie Newspaper Group (a division that operates 14 community papers in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, including the Flin Flon Reminder).

“Despite our best efforts, dwindling advertiser support has created a situation whereby the publication is no longer viable, nor sustainable.”

Two years ago, Glacier shut down the Thompson Citizen’s sister weekly, Nickel Belt News.

In 2020, it closed four other Manitoba papers: Reston Recorder, Melita New Era, Souris Plaindealer and Deloraine Times & Star. Earlier this year, it sold SaskToday.ca and the websites for all of its Saskatchewan papers to Regina-based Harvard Media.

Of the Thompson situation, Brewerton said: “It was a particularly difficult decision to close the Citizen, which has been proudly serving the region since 1960.”

In the nine months ending Sept. 30, Glacier’s community newspaper group generated revenue of $15.5 million — about half of what it did the year before.

Glacier also owns successful agricultural publications, including Manitoba Co-Operator and Western Producer.

As of Saturday, there will no longer be a physical newspaper presence in Thompson. (The Free Press and Winnipeg Sun no longer ship printed copies of the paper that far north.)

Thompson MLA Eric Redhead said the paper will be missed.

“The closure of the Thompson Citizen is a huge loss for our community. The Citizen was mine and my fellow Thompsonites’ local news source,” he said.

“The closure of the Thompson Citizen is a huge loss for our community. The Citizen was mine and my fellow Thompsonites’ local news source.”–Thompson MLA Eric Redhead

In the November speech from the throne, the provincial government made special reference to the importance of freedom of the press, saying: “We can’t afford to let journalism disappear.”

“The closure is an example of why our government intends to strike an all-party committee with the mandate to consider matters of public support for journalism,” Redhead said Wednesday.

A motion was made to strike such a committee, he said, but “the PCs blocked it. Now that the house has risen, March will be the earliest opportunity for this motion to pass. But we will press forward with the motion in the spring when members return to the legislature.”

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca