Globe and Mail article addresses community newspaper growth

An article in the March 20, 2002 edition of the Globe and Mail by Keith Damsell focuses on the growth of Canada’s community newspapers.

The article, titled “New life in community newspapers,” reads “Urban dailies losing readers to more narrowly focused publications.”

The article uses the example of the Cambridge Reporter, a small-market daily that recently became a twice-weekly community newspaper, to suggest a possible future for Canada’s daily newspaper sector.

Although the article says that “most of this country’s community papers are owned by CanWest Global Communications Corp., Torstar and Sun Media Corp., the publishing arm of Quebecor Inc.,” the information is incorrect. According to Snapshot 2002: The Developing Picture of the Canadian Community Newspaper Industry, a total of 10 corporations own about 40 per cent of Canada’s community newspaper industry. This means that more than 60 per cent of the industry is independently owned.