I am well-qualified to write this article as I have been a passionate reader of community newspapers for years.
The newspaper I read most regularly (every issue, published three times a week) is The North Shore News, a paper published in North Vancouver and distributed free to all homes on ‘the north shore’.
Real Estate News
If I have had a really busy week and just have not had time to read every issue, I definitely read the issue that includes The Real Estate News.
In Toronto, where I formerly lived, I read The Town Crier, a local community paper that was published only a few times a year.
When I first moved to the Vancouver area, I was delighted to discover The North Shore News. Its news stories are pertinent to the particular community, and there is even a weekly police item about the locations of break-ins in the area.
I also read a national daily paper, The Globe and Mail, and a local daily paper, The Vancouver Sun, and generally watch The National and The Journal on CBC Television. I do not watch the local television news.
Although local news might be covered briefly in The Vancouver Sun, I appreciate the detail my community newspaper provides.
Newcomer
As a newcomer to the area, I want to learn about my new community and I find that the paper gives me a great deal of information and background.
I usually read the paper from first page to last page, skipping the sports section and avoiding the columns of a local extreme right-winger whose columns (the first few times I read them) are inflammatory and denigrating to various groups and get me so angry I have chosen not to read them at all rather than be provoked.
Because I enjoy reading the paper (I use it as a way to relax in the late afternoon,) I do notice the ads and use them selectively.
Coupons
I do not clip every coupon, or note every ad (if the company or store advertising is out of my way, I generally do not make the extra trip) but I do clip coupons or make note of the sales that are at stores at which I usually shop, or are on the way to where I am usually going.
I value the community newspaper as a way to have a ‘snapshot’ of my local community.
Michaele-Sue Goldblatt is a social worker who runs an adoption agency. She lives with her husband and three sons in West Vancouver, B.C.
