In this week鈥檚 issue of the readers will likely notice, in the bottom-right corner of the front page, an ad that is a little different than what you are accustomed to seeing.

The black-and-white advertisement is a note written by White Rock resident Chad Skelton, urging other local residents to purchase space in their community newspaper.

The current economic climate has seen businesses in every community shut down amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which, in turn, has affected newspaper advertising.

A former reporter at the Vancouver Sun, Skelton 鈥� who is now a journalism professor at Kwantlen Polytechnic University 鈥� said he got the idea for the ad from former Sun colleague Frances Bula, who a few weeks ago on Twitter urged people to take out ads that did everything from thank health-care workers and grocery-store staff to simply saying hello to a grandparent who may be stuck indoors and away from family during this period of self-isolation.

鈥淚 just thought, 鈥極h, I could do that. That will make me feel better,鈥欌�� Skelton said.

鈥淎nd then I thought, if I鈥檓 going to take out an ad anyway, maybe it would be good to take out an ad encouraging other people to take out an ad.

By Friday morning, about a half a dozen local residents had taken Skelton up on his challenge, purchasing ad space in Peace Arch News鈥� upcoming Thursday, April 9 edition.

鈥淯nder normal circumstances, there鈥檚 plenty of ads, plenty of flyers and we get to enjoy (community papers) for free, but we鈥檙e in this sort of extreme situation where ads are drying up, so if you want the papers to exist today, and want them to exist tomorrow, you kind of have to step up.鈥�

Rick O鈥機onnor, president and CEO of Black Press Media 鈥� the parent company of Peace Arch News 鈥� echoed those statements, adding that the current economic crisis is difficult for businesses like community papers that rely so heavily on advertising revenue, both in print and online.

Revenue has dropped 40 to 50 per cent in two weeks, O鈥機onnor said.

Though the particulars of each newspaper are different, O鈥機onnor said that, as a general ballpark figure, the cost to print and deliver each edition of the paper is 25 cents per copy printed 鈥� a number that does not include overhead or staffing costs.

Peace Arch News鈥� circulation is 37,000.

鈥淭he double-whammy for newspapers is that the government considers them an essential service, and so they should be, but by the same token, good local journalism costs money.鈥�

Skelton said he gets the sense that many people have 鈥渜uite a bit of affection鈥� for their local media outlets, though there are others who may take them for granted.

鈥淎 good way to frame it is, 鈥楬ow would you feel if the Peace Arch News didn鈥檛 show up next week?鈥� Right now, we鈥檙e in a position where at least in the short-term, that鈥檚 a very real possibility (for many community papers),鈥� he said.

鈥淭he big provincial, national, metro (news outlets), they do a great job, but they can鈥檛 be everywhere. They aren鈥檛 covering White Rock city council or Surrey school board on a regular basis. They aren鈥檛 covering the debate about dogs on the promenade or talking about raising money for the pier.

鈥淚f these papers go away, nobody鈥檚 covering (these cities). I think maybe we forget the value of them.鈥�

If you value your local community newspaper 鈥� and you want it to be around when all this is over 鈥� there鈥檚 an easy way you can help:

Buy an ad.

I can confirm it鈥檚 super easy to do and gives you a warm fuzzy feeling.

鈥� Chad Skelton (@chadskelton)

These days, though, many residents get their news online 鈥� from newspaper websites like peacearchnews.com and others 鈥� Skelton also points out that the print product is still essential for many, especially on the Semiahmoo Peninsula, which has a higher-than-average senior population.

鈥淚n a community like ours in particular, there鈥檚 a lot of elderly people, and they鈥檙e not on Twitter. So for a lot of them, to know what鈥檚 going on in their community, to know how to keep themselves safe, it鈥檚 really important. To our most vulnerable citizens, I think community papers are even more important.鈥�

There鈥檚 another benefit to them, as well, he laughed.

鈥淚 was joking with my wife and said, 鈥榃here are all the old people going to complain if they can鈥檛 write letters to the editor?鈥欌��

While not everyone has financial means to purchase an ad on the front page as Skelton did, classified ads 鈥� many of which can be bought online 鈥� can run for as little as $30-$40, he noted.

鈥淥bviously, (some) people have lost their jobs, and you need to worry about feeding yourself, but some people like me are lucky enough to still have a steady job,鈥� he said.

鈥淭he pier is an interesting (comparable). The pier gets washed out鈥� and a lot of people said, 鈥業 don鈥檛 want to live in White Rock without the pier, so I鈥檓 going to step up and donate, I鈥檓 going to put my name on a plank.

鈥淲ell, I don鈥檛 want to live in White Rock without the Peace Arch News. It鈥檚 a part of the community the same way that the fish-and-chip places down on Marine Drive are.鈥�

editorial@peacearchnews.com
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