There is a new publisher at Battlefords Publishing. He is Gordon Brewerton, who comes to the Battlefords from his most recent position in Prince Albert.
His official title is Senior Group Publisher for North Saskatchewan for Glacier Media which means he is responsible not only for the Battlefords News-Optimist and the Regional Optimist, but for Glacier’s newspapers from Outlook to Flin Flon.
“I’m thrilled to be here, and the greatest thing for me is, despite anything I might have read prior to my arrival in the Battlefords, it’s nothing at all like what Maclean’s Magazine would have you believe,” said Brewerton.
“I’ve met nothing but decent, open caring people. There’s a lot to see, there’s a vibrant downtown, there’s lots of culture, there’s lots of art, and 30 minutes away there’s a beautiful ski hill. So I’m all good.”
In coming to North Battleford Brewerton said he had expected to see a downtown that was pretty much vacant, like a lot of other smaller towns and cities across the country. But that wasn’t the case here, he said.
“There’s a lot of businesses. I’m surprised at the number of independently-owned businesses, the ‘mom and pop’ businesses,” said Brewerton. “It’s not all box stores and franchises. It’s great to see.”
Brewerton now is set up in the office formerly filled by Alana Schweitzer, longtime publisher at Battlefords Publishing who retired earlier this year.
While Brewerton has made his latest move from just up the road in Prince Albert, where he was VP Operations/Publisher of Star News Publishing Inc., he has only been in Saskatchewan for a few months after an extensive period of time with newspapers throughout eastern Canada.
For the previous three years he was regional group publisher for Transcontinental Media’s two dailies and 13 weeklies, based in St. John’s, Newfoundland. He also had an earlier stint with Transcontinental in Quebec and had also spent time with Sun Media and other organizations in a career in news that spans over three decades.
Brewerton himself is originally from Montreal, where he got his start in the news business, moving into roles as a graphic artist and as a writer.
Soon after, he got into the sales side. Brewerton eventually concentrated on that full time before getting his opportunity to be a publisher with a struggling weekly in Ottawa that he was able to turn around.
While he has spent most of his career out east, Brewerton does have family connections to Saskatchewan, as his wife’s family lives in Prince Albert and her two daughters are in Saskatoon. That was what prompted his move to Saskatchewan in the first place.
Brewerton said he had been in contact previously with Glacier about opportunities with the company. But at the time he was offered a job, he had just taken the St. John’s job and didn’t feel it was right to leave them in the lurch.
When he was approached again for the Battlefords opportunity, he decided the time was right and took the position.
“I knew they had an excellent reputation,” said Brewerton about Glacier, who called it a company he always aspired to work for, for that reason. “When they called I was interested in what they had to offer.”
Brewerton also is positive about the future of the newspaper industry.
“We know people still read, we know people have a thirst for information. It’s just providing information that is pertinent to their lives, and if we do that we’ll have a rich future.”
As well, he makes his pitch to advertisers in the community that newspapers are the best option. “Local merchants have to reach their clients. We are best positioned to achieve that.”
Brewerton is also hoping to be in the Battlefords for the long term.
“I’ve moved around enough that it is time to set down permanent roots.”
