The Cochrane Eagle, an award-winning weekly newspaper in the rapidly growing community of Cochrane, is celebrating its 20-year milestone of dishing up local news to Cochranites this month.
The Rocky View Weekly’s sister-paper commemorated its jubilee anniversary with a series of features, editorials, and columns that touched on the paper’s past coverage and highlighted its founder, Jack Tennant, in its Aug 5 print edition.
According to the Eagle's editor Chelsea Kemp, although he passed in 2018, Tennant has left a legacy in the newsroom that won’t soon be forgotten. She said the Eagle wouldn’t be a paper if it weren’t for the founding publisher’s philanthropic and entrepreneurial spirit.
“I think where [the Eagle] stands out is because of Jack,” Kemp said. “Even though it’s [been] three years since he passed, we still have people coming in and telling us stories about how he touched their lives.”
Kemp added Tennant’s mantra behind the Eagle was to focus specifically on coverage with a local focus.
“He really drove home in the newsroom how important local news is, and that’s the philosophy we’ve tried to maintain, even though no one in the current newsroom had the opportunity to meet Jack,” she said.
Tennant, a modern-day renaissance man, founded the Eagle in the summer of 2001 after a career as a celebrated journalist, publisher, and philanthropist. He also had a few stints spent working in the hockey and real estate business.
According to his obituary in 2018, his love for people and animals made him a cherished community member, leader, and ambassador in Cochrane. A Cochrane Eagle article from 2020 stated Tennant was known for his “twinkling pale blue eyes,” and he always had a story “locked and loaded to share.”
Although she will be resigning from her position as editor this month, Kemp said she hopes the paper will continue its focus on local news, and will remember its beginnings as a community news outlet “focused on the people and the places that are important in Cochrane.”
Shaun Jessome, publisher of the Cochrane Eagle, said Tennant’s legacy is apparent throughout the newsroom and throughout the community. He added that Great West Media LP., which took ownership of the Eagle in June 2012, is carrying forward Tennant’s philosophy. He added Tennant was a champion for the Cochrane community, was well known and respected throughout the town.
“I think it’s part of not only Jack’s legacy but the legacy of Great West Media that [it’s] all about community first,” he said. “It’s all about supporting the community and that tie between the newspaper and community itself.
“[The] Cochrane Eagle is now a proud member of that group [of Great West Media newspapers] that ties itself directly to the community, finds its history in the community, and [provides] a new record of the history of the community.”
According to Jessome, Tennant earned a reputation as a community supporter years ago when he was active in the Sun Media Group. He added the businessman owned several papers prior to publishing the Eagle's first issue on Aug. 1, 2001.
In addition to his philanthropic efforts around Cochrane, Tennant was also an involved AA community member and holds the honourary title of “Tataga Tawachi Thnigan” (Gentle Buffalo) with the Stoney Nakoda First Nation. The Jack Tennant Memorial bridge was named after the newspaperman and opened to traffic for the first time on Oct. 15, 2020.
“Everything [Jack] did was about community, about supporting causes within the community, and supporting individuals within the community,” Jessome said.
With a population surpassing 30,000 residents, Jessome said Cochrane is out-growing its status as a Calgary bedroom community and is beginning to establish itself as a destination, and an entity in its own right. He added the Eagle will be there to support the community and document its stories as it continues to grow and evolve.
“Jack took a heck of a chance 20 years ago, because even then, starting a brand-new paper was a bit of an unheard-of thing,” he said. “He did it with passion, and he did it because he cared about the community and wanted the community to benefit.
“I think his legacy is still pretty strong.”
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