Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "We are not more righteous than thou":
Further to 9:48's point.
The Era and The Banner are both published as part of the York Region local papers that is owned by the Toronto Star. If anyone has cause to travel to Peel region, there is a similar line of papers for Brampton, Mississauga, etc. In Halton, the paper in Georgetown, Oakville, etc are all the same.
The intent of these "local" papers is have a sprinkling of "news" but the reason they do not charge the people that get it is because the revenue side of the ledger comes from all of those weekly flyers on Thursday.
For anyone to think that there is some form of journalism going on, you are mistaken. This is a commercial enterprise only.
Posted by Anonymous to Our Town and Its Business at 3 November 201b4 10:26
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The nature of a newspaper has never changed Advertising has always paid the freight.
But it wasn't always the whole story. Charges for advertising were based on circulation. Small circulation, small fees for advertising.
When readers paid for the newspaper They didn't pay to read advertising. Their intent was to keep
up with the news.
Readership mattered. The publication had to cater to readers and advertisers. A delicate balance had to be maintained.
Readers had a sense of ownership . Everybody was a critic. And of course with more than one local weekly, competition was fierce. All that stood between a reporter and his next pay cheque was the editor. If a story was missed his/her neck was on the line.
The Banner crew would gather in the Greystones after the paper had been put to bed on Tuesday night. . If the Newmarket Era came out with a story the Banner didn't, heads would roll....for a day.
Advertising was sparse . Paymnet had to be collected promptly.
Until Ron Wallace started The Auroran, conventional wisdom had it a newspaper start-up was not possible. Only computer technology made it happen . That and a host of people who made voluntary contributions to the little newspaper that was.
Other than getting bigger The Auroran has changed little since new ownership. Still plenty of local news and events appear plus several columns,lots of pictures and of course Scott. Johnson's editorial cartoon.
It is still a highly readable newspaper and I think the town is well served.
The Banner publication is part of a different organization.. Not the same. Everything changes.
Comparison is futile.
Monday, 3 November 2014
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7 comments:
I would disagree about The Auroran. Originally Ron's content was mostly history lessons. Now the news is not really engaging but some pictures of the Mayor cutting ribbons. Of course the letters to the editor by the same cast of characters that populate the blogs and sign their names to their posts.
I also think that the paper has an association with other publications, which at some point in time will take away the focus from Aurora.
Oh for goodness sake, 11:52. Do try to say something positive about something .........
I think we are fortunate to have the Auroran. It employs working journalists who are confident enough to use their names when they cover events. There was no blind " editorials " such as seen in the Banner.
@11:52
You might want to get more fibre in your diet
The Auroran is great - imagine the election if there had been only the coverage from that other lot.
Someone said they disliked the letters. I disagree. They can be quite entertaining and even informative. This week's offering should be as good as Scott's cartoons or columns. And they are superior.
You should ad a 'show and tell' section giving personal advice to people with all sorts of problems.
Of course, you will probably want to screen out those who wish to discuss matters of a 'very personal' nature.
You just have to watch the national press the past week to get the idea.
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