CANORA, KAMSACK, PREECEVILLE — Three local papers have returned back into local hands.
Vancouver-based Glacier Media sold the Canora Courier, Kamsack Times and Preeceville Progress to Canora resident Devan Tasa, effective Aug. 29. Tasa has been the publisher (general manager) of the three newspapers on behalf of Glacier since April 2022.
“These newspapers make a difference in people’s lives,” Tasa said.
“I’ve had people in the street approach me to say that they are thankful they have local papers with local news.
“I’ve heard candidates for municipal elections at all-candidates forum say they’ve heard of local issues in our papers first – and rely on our reporting to know the latest as they suggested solutions to the electorate.
“I’ve had people working on non-profit projects let me know they’ve received donations from the public because of a story in the paper.
“This business has been doing that for more than a century and it’s a legacy that I want to continue.”
The three newspapers will be operated under DC Tasa Media Ltd.
The Canora Courier was established in 1907, the Kamsack Times in 1908 and the Preeceville Progress in 1932. The papers were owned by Ken Sopkow for many years until he sold it to Fore Front Enterprises in 2006. In 2008, the papers were sold to Glacier Media.
Peter Kvarnstrom, Glacier Media’s president of community media, said his company was proud of the legacy they’ve left in the nearly two decades they’ve operated the papers.
“The reality is that we cannot operate a small town paper as efficiently and effectively as a local operator can. The corporate ownership adds another layer of cost to operating a small business that just is not sustainable in today’s world, particularly the local news world.”
Kvarnstrom said it’s clear that large corporate chains haven’t been able to support community journalism the way that it has in the past, which is why Glacier has been working to return some of its rural newspapers to local ownership under a return to community program. He said many of these papers – including the Canora Courier, Kamsack Times and Preeceville Progress – are making a small profit, but not enough profit to serve shareholders or to sustain a corporate chain’s overhead.
“We have really come around to recognizing that where we see local ownership in community newspapers, they’re generally doing better,” Kvarnstrom said.
There are examples in Saskatchewan, not too far away. The Moosomin World-Spectator, based in a community of less than 3,000, has weekly page counts numbering in the 40s and 50s.
“We’ve still got a lot of work to get to that level,” Tasa said. “I’d be happy to hear from our communities what they’d like to see in our papers moving forward.
“But the fact is we need support from our communities, whether it’s from subscriptions or ads. It’s only with additional revenue that I’d be able to expand our papers.”
