After watching CBC's Dragon's Den on Monday Night I wanted to give Ross McDermott, Editor and Creator of www.LondonTopic.ca both some support and congratulations for having the guts to appear on the show and try to explain why he has tried to fill the gap in local news left in London by the London Free Press. He also tried without success to explain to the wealthy investor Dragons that newsrooms in small towns and medium size towns have been cut to the bone leaving a void in the marketplace for local news. Well done Ross.
In my position as a freelance reporter for East Side Story and currently for The North London Beacon and www.Northeastender.ca over the last seven years I have had the chance to meet the Big Boys and Girls at our television channels and our one and only daily. I've also had the chance to meet many other reporters from the so-called "ethnic" press, student reporters and a few on-line entrepreneurs like Ross who run web sites in London that provide Londoners with news vital to London's diverse population but somehow irrelevant to the editors of print, radio and television journalism. You will see some of that further below.
I'd like to present a few of them in this space. Some have web addresses. Some print publications are easy to find around town. Some aren't. The best place to find many of them are your public libraries. The point isn't to judge the publications. It's simply to show how many are out there.
The publications listed below are not small irrelevant publications. They go to press conferences and gather news for their communities. Politicians don't ignore them but traditional media certainly does. This shunning by traditional media is one reason immigrants create their own publications and communities and don't blend in to the community. They don't see themselves represented in the media amongst many other places and they stay where they can get their services.
The question is, how many will survive at a time when community publications have been rapidly folding with shrinking ad revenues and the high cost of production and distribution. Most publications have found it necessary to appear both in print and on-line, thereby creating even more expenses.
Some of these publications are produced by skeleton staffs for small communities. They will survive as their communities are able to support them. Many of the others simply won't make it. Most of the English language Neighbourhood Papers are gone. The North London Beacon stands alone as a strong survivor in print. The Question Ross brought to the Dragons is relevant here. The Free Press isn't meeting the diversity of London shown in the Press in this article. How much poorer will London be when many of the others I list here run into the same troubles that London's English Community papers ran into. I wonder if the people at City Hall or the Free Press even know of the depth of London's Press.
Believe it or not John Tory was the only Leader in the last Provincial election to schedule a special meeting for the "ethnic" or non-english press. I was also invited. The list below is by no means complete. London has a Greek Community Paper and sever Newsletter style publications which serve other non-English communities. These publications are much less expensive to produce and distribute but they contain the same content as small monthly or twice monthly newspapers.
I hesitate to include the Londoner in this mix. While it contains a great deal of community news it is also partially owned by the same corporation which owns the London Free Press which has stripped its daily of most of its community news. It is distributed free of charged through boxes and to non-subscribers of the Free Press as well so it is included.
PART 1
English Publications
SNAP LONDON NORTH - This publication is in it's first year. You can reach the on-line edition at www.snaplondonnorth.com . Print editions are found in businesses around North London and Northeast London. Distribution in North London.
The Londoner - Probably the best known community paper in London with partial ownership by SunMedia production and distribution problems are not as severe. The Londoner is distributed through the Free Press and Star Mail to non-subscribers.It manages to print on a weekly basis with columnists and feature writers. The on-line edition can be reached at www.thelondoner.ca . City Wide Distribution
North London Beacon
The Beacon has served North London for many years. It is distributed twice monthly. It delivers a nice mix of large colour photos, feature articles and columns from local personalities such as Ward Councillors and Sgt. Tom, O'Brien who writes on Traffic and Safety issues. The Beacon does not have a web site. I need to disclose that I write freelance for the Beacon and I am proud to do so. Everywhere that I have gone to report on a story I've noticed that the Beacon is well received and respected. To the best of my knowledge it is the last English Community/Neighbourhood Paper in Business since several folded in the past few years.
French
L'Action - This French Language newspaper describes itself as The Newspaper of the Francophones of the Region of London-Sarnia-Woodstock-Owen Sound.(Translation from the French) The distribution of the French only paper is limited to French schools, libraries, French offices, cultural centres etc. There is no web site link.
The Insider
The Insider (Community pass) is in its second year. It covers stories relevant to the African and Carribean communities in London. Some of its articles are written in scripts of languages other than English but the paper is largely written in English. The web address is www.insiderlondon.ca
Spanish
Latino
Latino is probably the best known Spanish paper in London. You can find it at Shoppers Drug Mart and many other Locations. The Editor and Journalist Mr. Jose Rey is at almost every event I go to. He also does a half hour program on Rogers in Spanish as well. Latino! is jam packed full of news from the London Latin Community, Provincial and even International news. The site is getting some fine tuning right now so it's not up. but the URL is www.magazinelatino.com. Have a look at it some time.
La Jornada
La Jornada is billed as "London's Bilingual Hispanic Newspaper." There are many Londoners, including myself who are learning Spanish. This newspaper is ideal for them. It's great to learn where you have instant translations. The paper has local, provincial and federal news. The web site can be reached at www.LaJornada.ca
Prensa Latina
There is yet a third local Spanish paper serving London's nearly 70,000 Latin population. La Prensa Latina is smaller and is not in colour but the content is good and it is still a good read. You can reach it's web site at http://www.prensalatina.info/index.htm
Arabic
Al Bilad
Canadian Arabic & English Newspaper Published in London, Ontario.
The 40 page issue which I picked up was for May 2008. It is written in both English and Arabic. The paper is in its 7th year. The quality of the layout is excellent. The paper has reached a high degree of success both in its level of advertising and number of articles, cartoons and many other features. The web address is www.albilad.net
Al Saraha
Monthly, Cultural, Independent, and Comprehensive Newspaper, Published in London, Ontario by Shala Arts, Centre. The paper is printed completely in Arabic. It is printed completely in colour. There is no web site listed.
Polish
KALEJDOSKOP
KALEJDOSKOP is written for readera in Cambridge, Guelph, Hamilton, Kitchener-Waterloo and London. Most of the paper is written in Polish. The web site can be reached at www.kalejdoskop.ca . The on-line edition is in English.
Chinese
London Chinese Press
The Bulk of the Print edition and ads are printed in Chinese. The web site offers more English. The web site can be reached at www.citycnet.com
