Communities across Ottawa and Ontario took a big hit this week when Postmedia and Torstar announced they were swapping 32 community newspapers and then shutting them down.
Even as the Competition Bureau of Canada declared it would investigate the transaction, Postmedia and Torstar abruptly shut down some of their newly-acquired holdings, including the Orillia Packet & Times, the storied newspaper from Stephen Leacock's Sunshine Sketches of Little Town, which had been in publication since 1870.
The remaining newspapers are slated for closure in early January 2018, including the Orleans News, the Ottawa East, South and West News, the Nepean/Barrhaven News and the Kanata Kourier-Standard.
Residents are decrying the impending erasure of their community voice, and have expressed grave concerns for how community events, issues, development projects and the democratic process - will be shared with residents without their locally-dedicated news source.
It's the 11th hour for community journalism. A grassroots-led intervention is desperately needed if we are to preserve our local newspapers, the very fabric of our communities.
In this vein, the Elmvale Acres Community Association (EACA) located in (Ward 18 - Alta Vista) has started a petition calling on the Competition Bureau to intervene in this transaction. Many residents in the ward of Alta Vista have put their support behind this petition and we have the full support of other community associations in the ward including: Canterbury Community Association, Riverview Park and Alta Vista Community Association - but we need your help.
The petition is approaching 400 signatures and is gaining momentum, but so many residents across Ottawa and Ontario are unaware of its existence.
The EACA is urging you to help spread the word to your communities while there's still time. Our hope is that residents across Ottawa are passionate supporters of their community newspapers and are ready to put their name behind our collective effort to ensure local stories continue to be told.
Please share this petition link with your contacts, and encourage them to share it with their contacts. If we work together -- communities supporting community journalism -- we might yet save our collective voices.
Sincerely,
Kevin Kit - President, Elmvale Acres Community Association
AJ Blauer - Vice-President, Elmvale Acres Community Association
You can reach the EACA by email at elmvaleacresca@gmail.com or visit our website at www.elmvaleacres.org
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