In addition to using our own voices to raise awareness of National Newspaper Week, let’s inspire other notable people in Canada to share their passion for their local newspapers through their own social media channels.
You can help by contacting notable local people in your community to get involved.
Publishers can support the National Newspaper Week 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 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:
1. 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.
2. Use your local networks to track down their contact information, and reach out to them by email (see the sample email copy below).
3. If they’re interested, talk to them about where they could post their photo (Instagram? Facebook? Twitter/X? LinkedIn?), when they would like to post (between October 6 and 12) 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 your paper] since [insert year, time of their life]. 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 #ChampionsoftheTruth
4. Be sure to take a screen grab of the post when it goes live and send it to us at klevson@newsmediacanada.ca.
5. 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 6-12:
Subject line: Support Newspapers this National Newspaper Week – week of OCTOBER 6
We will be celebrating during the week of October 6-12, 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 people in Canada to show their support by posting on social media and sharing how their local newspaper impacts their community. 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 or recognizing your local champions during the week of October 6th. Don’t forget to use the hashtags #NationalNewspaperWeek and #ChampionsoftheTruth .
Local newspapers deliver vital information and connect communities from coast to coast. In fact, four out of five people in Canada (81%) read newspapers each week – 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.
