We are now just about six weeks away from the kick-off to National Newspaper Week in Canada, which is taking place this year from October 1 – 7.
This is an important opportunity for us to raise awareness of—and support for—our industry among our most important stakeholders.
As we finalize our national plans for National Newspaper Week, we want to provide you with an update on our work to-date and give you an early heads-up on some of the key ways that we’re hoping that you will be able to provide support at a local level.
THE NATIONAL CAMPAIGN
The theme of our National Newspaper Week 2018 campaign is “Now More Than Ever”. The storyline through all of our public-facing communication will reinforce the message that the in-depth, credible, independent reporting done by newspapers is more important than ever, but that newspapers are facing a number of serious threats.
Beginning in late September, we’ll challenge Canadians to go online to newspapersmatter.ca, a site we’re launching to coincide with National Newspaper Week, to send a message—to Canadian businesses, advertisers, to all levels of government, to newspaper journalists and to their fellow citizens—that newspapers matter now more than ever.
National Promotional Support
We’ll be driving traffic to the online hub (newspapersmatter.ca) through a national advertising campaign in English and French. But we need your help to maximize the reach of this important program.
Local Publisher Support
We are currently creating print and digital ads promoting the campaign for all members to run in your papers and on your websites during the first week of October.
Social Media Campaign
In addition to the power of print and digital newspapers, we will also be launching a paid social media campaign to amplify the message that Newspapers Matter.
GRASSROOTS COMMUNITY SUPPORT
In addition to this advertising support, we will be sharing a toolkit of ideas on ways that you can support National Newspaper Week in your own community. Here’s a sneak preview of a few things you may want to consider:
- Dedicate an editorial in your paper during National Newspaper Week to the theme of “Now More Than Ever”.
- Host a “Now More Than Ever” breakfast for advertisers in your community to kick-off National Newspaper Week.
- Connect with local schools in your community to see if there might be opportunities to work together on National Newspaper Week programming. A field trip to the newsroom, perhaps?
- Rent a local theatre and host a reception / movie screening of the award winning film Spotlight. On request, News Media Canada will provide a digital copy of the movie and cover the cost of licensing the film (approximate $350 value) to a limited number of participating community newspapers, as part of funding from the Department of Canadian Heritage.
- Find local influencers or spokespeople in your community and ask them to post a photo on their own social media channels, reading a copy of their favourite newspaper (in print or digital form) while tagging #NowMoreThanEver to publicly show their love of newspapers and to support the campaign.
We all need National Newspaper Week to make an impact. Now more than ever. And we can’t do it without you.
