Bow River Member of Parliament Martin Shields’ recent speech in the House of Commons certainly resonated with our newsroom – so much so that we decided to transcribe it and include it in this week’s issue.
Shields spoke about the impact the weekly newspapers in his riding – including the Rocky View Weekly – have on the community. (Footnote: we are certainly curious if this is the first time our newspaper’s name has been uttered in that chamber).
Addressing the House, the Conservative Party MP criticized the lack of advertising dollars the federal government spends on smaller news outlets, instead spending its ad budget on social media giants like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, which are not Canadian institutions.
It’s no secret that for years now, small-town newspapers and news outlets have experienced diminishing advertising revenues. While the federal government spends tens of millions of dollars on advertising each year, only a fraction is spent on newspaper advertising – and that money is mostly doled out to big-city dailies, rather than smaller operations.
We obviously agree with Shields that weekly newspapers are important institutions in the communities they serve, which tend to be less populated cities and towns. Our small staff is devoted to covering the news, events and issues that take place in Rocky View County, whether it’s a local council meeting, a contentious development or a profile on a local person of interest. We feel we have deep ties to the diverse communities of Rocky View County – ties you will not find from media outlets in the large urban centres.
These ties are reflected in our growing audience. In the last two years, our online readership has more than doubled, since a revamp of our website in 2019.
Thanks for reading. We look forward to continue serving our community.
