Earlier this week, the Peterborough Examiner published a feature about what a small community near Owen Sound, Ontario, has lost since its community newspaper, the Markdale Standard, closed in 2012.
It’s a story that has become all-too-familiar to many Canadian publishers: sharp declines in print advertising revenue, driven by the media dominance of Facebook, Google, and Twitter and the voids left in communities across the country.
At the same time, it also captures the important role a newspaper plays in weaving the social fabric of a community, too.
