From cuts and closures to news blackouts on social media, there's been no shortage of challenges for the small weekly newspapers that dot Saskatchewan. But some are making the best of a tough situation.The Saskatchewan Weekly Newspapers Association says it now represents 57 newspapers, a far cry from the 160 it used to. But some local papers say they're finding ways to continue. Ashley Bochek snaps a photo of four employees of Glasser's TV Service in downtown Moosomin.
"I really like … going out in the community and talking to familiar faces or new faces," Bochek said of her job. The Saskatchewan Weekly Newspapers Association says it now represents 57 papers — a far cry from the 160 or so that existed at one time.Weedmark himself has travelled to Afghanistan, the Philippines and Vietnam for the paper in recent years.World-Spectator publisher Kevin Weedmark says he views his paper as a community service first and a business second.
Ashfield is the publisher of Grasslands News, which owns papers in several southeastern Saskatchewan communities. "Something might cost us a little more money to do something in a community," said Ashfield. "We're not making cuts, where probably chains would, on staffing. We're trying to keep those people in those communities."
"June 3 , my birthday, I gave my notice to the Maple Creek News and said, 'I'm moving to Kindersley.'" Nearby Kerrobert was one of those communities, but that changed in 2021, when Winquist decided to launch a paper there as well. "It's a way for people to get to know each other vicariously through the pages of the paper," she said.
But Steve Nixon, the executive director of the Saskatchewan Weekly Newspapers Association, says finding local advertisers isn't always possible. "They're usually standalone communities," said Nixon. "They're a little bit further away from major centres, so they create their own economic environments, and they do it very, very well."