In addition to using our own voices to raise awareness of National Newspaper Week, we are hoping to inspire other notable Canadians to share their passion for their local newspapers through their own social media channels. You can help by reaching out to notable local people in your community to get involved.
Publishers can support the National Newspaper Week 2021 program locally by reaching out to advertisers and community leaders (politicians, athletes, authors, etc.) to ask them to post a photo with their newspaper and their own thoughts on how local newspapers spark conversation and the importance of newspapers as an essential source of local, original content that cannot be found anywhere else.
Here’s how you can engage local influencers in your community:
- Brainstorm a list of advertisers and well-known people in your local community who would like to show their support for National Newspaper Week and their local newspaper (i.e. you!). Think about local politicians, church leaders, athletes, well-known writers, business leaders, or other high-profile personalities.
- Use your local networks to track down their contact information, and reach out to them by email. If you need help writing the email reach out to Kelly at klevson@newsmediacanada.ca for some copy ideas or see the sample email copy below.
- If they’re interested, talk to them about where they could post their photo (Instagram? Facebook? Twitter? LinkedIn?), when they would like to post (between October 3 and 9) and whether they need a copy of the paper from you for the photo. You can also provide them with some sample post copy:
I’ve been reading [insert name of paper] since I was a kid. It’s where I learn about what’s happening in my hometown—no matter where I am around the world. And I know that I can trust what I read in these pages. #NationalNewspaperWeek #ChampionTheTruth
- Be sure to take a screen grab of the post when it goes live and send it to us at klevson@newsmediacanada.ca.
- Once you see their post, don’t forget to reach out again and thank them for their support.
Here is a sample email you could send to encourage local influencers to celebrate with us from October 3-9:
Subject: Support Newspapers this National Newspaper Week – week of OCTOBER 3rd
We will be celebrating during the week of October 3-9, and we want to include you! Every year, during National Newspaper Week, we recognize the importance of newspapers across the country the critical role that newspapers play in an active and healthy democracy.
In markets large and small, we’re asking Canadians to show their support by posting on social media and sharing how their local newspaper helps spark conversation. We’re hoping you’ll join others and post a photo of yourself with your favourite local newspaper (you can be reading it in print or online) with a message about why your newspaper matters to you, using the hashtags #NationalNewspaperWeek and #ChampionTheTruth during the week of October 3rd.
Local newspapers deliver vital information to Canadians every day and connect communities from coast to coast. In fact, nine in 10 Canadians (87%) read newspapers each week across Canada– either in print or digital format. National Newspaper Week is a chance to reflect on the essential service newspapers provide with diverse, local, original content produced by news media that cannot be found anywhere else.
Last year almost hundreds of local influencers in markets across the country celebrated newspapers. Check out the News Media Canada Instagram and Facebook accounts and #NationalNewspaperWeek to see who posted last year!
