By Trevor Greenway
Local Journalism Initiative
When an independent newspaper gets sold in Canada, it’s usually seen as a bad thing for journalism.
But if you talk to the people running The Equity in Shawville, they’ll tell you that selling their long-standing media business to a digital advertiser will actually help the newspaper flourish and its commercial print shop thrive.
“No matter what way I spin it, this is nothing but exciting for me,” said Sophie Kuijper Dickson, the editor of The Equity. “I mean, just speaking selfishly, because I get to continue on doing the job that I love and with more support and new energy and a vision for what this business can be.”
The Equity, which printed its first issue more than 140 years ago and has been the voice of the Pontiac region ever since, has been sold to Calumet Media, a digital advertising agency owned by local resident Jon Stewart. Stewart helped The Equity revamp its website last year and said he isn’t oblivious to the plight most local independent newspapers face in Canada: constant threats of closure. It’s no different at The Equity, said Stewart, but he’s hoping his expertise gained while working as regional advertising director for Post Media will help The Equity stay alive.
“[The equity hasn’t made money in forever,” said Stewart. “The print shop is the only thing that makes money on the operation, and [the profit] is getting thinner and thinner.” He said he believes that,, if the Equity doesn’t change or that a benefactor doesn’t come forward, it would cease publishing the newspaper
To help The Equity stay afloat, Stewart said he’ll be leaning on some of the things he implemented when he led the Ottawa Citizen’s foray into the digital ad world several years ago. He said the Citizen was one of the only newspapers to actually turn a profit during that digital shakeup, explaining that the Ottawa daily went further than just selling digital ads – it became a digital ad agency and diversified its revenue by running ad campaigns for large companies, like Myers Automotive.
Stewart said he plans on testing this model out with The Equity and its customers. And, despite the newspaper not turning a profit, he said he intends to keep the print version alive for now.
“Everyone wants to focus on the death of the newspaper, but that is not the conversation we’re having today,” said Stewart. “We’re talking about, how do we … make sure that the equity survives in whatever format it’s going to take over the next few years? And that includes sustaining the print product for as long as we can.”
Part of helping The Equity stay alive, according to Kuijper Dickson, is reaching younger readers and understanding how younger generations find and consume their news.
“I think there’s a lot of work we could do to sort of get that next generation on board. And part of it is figuring out, you know, what the news is that they actually want to be reading,” said Kuijper Dickson. And the other part is figuring out how to get it to them in a way that’s relevant to them.”
Part of the revamp includes developing an app for iOS, implementing email newsletters and subscription drives to increase sales and establishing a new online paywall that will allow users to read up to four articles per month without having to subscribe.
“We’ve had nearly 300 new people sign up to that,” added Stewart. “They get our email newsletter as well, and of course, that prompts them to subscribe as well.”
But with any generational shift, emotions accompany it. The Dickson family has been running The Equity for the past 72 years, since David and Rosaleen Dickson purchased it in 1953. Current publisher, Charles, and daughter, Sophie, plan to stay on indefinitely.
Sophie said that this isn’t the end of The Equity but the beginning of something new.
“Selling the business, because it’s been in our family for so long, has been – as I’m sure you can imagine – enough of an emotional roller coaster, you know, wondering if we’re doing the right thing or if we’re going to regret it, passing the torch in this way, but I’m staying on full time and dad is [too],” she said, adding, “We realized what we need to do in order to be able to continue doing what we both love.”