Firstly, I want to start this column with a great big thank you to all our advertisers and flyer customers who have continued to run your ads, and of course to the many new advertisers that we have seen come in over the past weeks. Every advertisement helps us not only from an operating cost perspective, but it also sends us a very direct message that what we do matters, every day, and you are prepared to support our efforts. We remain 100 per cent committed to keep our community updated at this critical time on all the regular community news, local initiatives to help our frontline workers and seniors, heroic acts of selflessness, and especially how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting us all locally and regionally.
Today we here at Coast Reporter are facing unprecedented challenges, as you all are. We have taken drastic efforts to curtail our expenses and all of our staff have taken part, one way or the other. Every one of us has faced significantly reduced incomes and some are now temporarily laid off, as we grapple with very significant revenue loss from our advertisers.
Our operations have been 100 per cent funded by the local and regional businesses that have been buying access to our audience for over 20 years. That model is terrifically challenged in today’s world, with nearly 50 per cent of all advertising in Canada now going to the duopoly of Facebook and Google. We, as an industry, are challenged to keep the lights on and keep Canadian journalists employed and doing their jobs, telling the stories and providing the facts that you all rely on us for.
Newsmedia organizations like ours are the conduit that binds us all together as a community. Our news and content truly reflect the communities that we call home.
We have now implemented an online donation mechanism on our website, coastreporter.net, to make it easy for our supporters, readers and community members to support us with direct donations. Your contribution, whether $5 a month or more significant, will go to ensure our ability to continue to serve our communities here on the Sunshine Coast. Please consider the value that we add to your community and your own enjoyment of life here.
It is time now for all of us to stop taking local news for granted, and step up today. I know I have, not only for Coast Reporter but for many other of my most appreciated and trusted newsmedia outlets.
You will find a direct link to our donation page here: https://support.coastreporter.net/account/support/signup
If you prefer to drop a cheque in the mail or would like to discuss your contribution directly with me, please do. I’m at publisher@coastreporter.net
Finally, I want to finish by thanking you all for reading our stories in print and online. It is through our strong audience engagement that we create value for our advertisers and sponsors. However, in today’s world, we all need to do more to ensure that news continues to be available, reliable and truthful. Please do your part.
Sincerely,
Peter Kvarnstrom
Publisher, Coast Reporter
