It is possible to put a price on reliable local journalism

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 02/04/2022 (1447 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In these inflationary times, everything seems to be going up.

It costs more to gas up. To fill up your grocery cart. To eat out.

In these times of COVID-19 and of war in Ukraine, something else is going up, too — the need for information you can trust.

And that’s why I hope our readers will understand and appreciate why a price increase to read the journalism our newsroom produces each and every day isn’t too much to ask.

Newspapers are not immune to the inflationary pressures driving up the costs of everything from our print delivery network to the software keeping our website running 24-7.

Nor are newspapers immune to the economic challenges still facing the news industry, which led to ongoing layoffs far and wide, and even the shuttering of newsrooms over the past two years.

If you are reading this column, whether in print or online, it’s fair to make some assumptions about those like you who subscribe to the Free Press. You recognize our community is only as good, only as connected as the information it gets.

While you may like reading fiction in paperbacks, non-fiction is what you expect and demand when it comes to coverage of our political leaders and our democracy. And you are willing to put your trust in an institution anchored here in the Red River Valley rather than relying on whatever gets served up to you by click-chasing social media giants from faraway Silicon Valley.

The modest price increase we are announcing today for both print and digital subscribers further underpins all the work our journalists do. For print, we still deliver a newspaper to your door for about the price of a stamp. For digital subscribers, it’s the first increase in seven years.

Readers like you make it possible to provide journalism worthy of national and international recognition. This week, the Free Press was named as a finalist for the prestigious CJF Jackman Award for Excellence in Journalism.

Last month, the Free Press received four nominations for National Newspaper Awards: Ryan Thorpe for investigations and feature writing; Jen Zoratti for arts writing; and Malak Abas, Dean Pritchard and me for covering breaking news.

The Free Press was also recognized with nominations in two categories of the INMA Global Media Awards for projects that involved community events and reader engagement — the Free Press Fall Supper, where readers ate locally grown food that had been chronicled in the Free Press, and the WFP Movie Night, which features locally shot movies streamed online for registered viewers.

Readers like you are why we sent faith writer John Longhurst to Rome this week to cover the Pope’s meeting with the Canadian delegation of Indigenous leaders. Readers like you are why we now have reporter Melissa Martin and photographer Mikaela Mackenzie on assignment at the Ukrainian border to bring home the stories of the refugee crisis triggered by the Russian invasion.

And readers like you are why earlier this year the Free Press became the first Canadian newspaper to receive certification from the Journalism Trust Initiative, an international body that audits us for high journalistic standards and transparency about what we do.

The Free Press has come a long way in the 150 years since the first edition rolled off a hand-operated press in a shack on Main Street. Now we bring news and information to you digitally in many ways, including the main news site, winnipegfreepress.com, the digital edition that provides a replica of our print newspaper seven days a week, the News Break app for quick updates on the day’s news, and newsletters on everything from pets to politics.

But we will still have further to go, because that’s what is needed to secure a future for independent journalism in this city and province.

No one likes inflation. But I hope you won’t mind a price increase that makes a further investment in your Free Press and your city and province.

As always, I thank you for your support and hope we continue to earn your trust.

Paul Samyn is the Free Press editor.

Paul.samyn@winnipegfreepress.com

Twitter: @paulsamyn