Community journalism has been the priority right from the start

The Observer was launched with community journalism at the forefront, though the founders certainly have a deeper view of what that means.

“When we started, we certainly wanted a newspaper that reflected the community that we served. To this day, that has changed,” said publisher Joe Merlihan of the impetus behind the publication launched 25 years ago this month. “But back then we were completely new to the business. Over the years, we’ve seen the importance of local journalism here and everywhere else.”

Merlihan notes the business of newspapers has changed dramatically over the last 25 years. While corporate interests have led to the reduction in actual journalism and the loss of many papers, the need for local journalism remains. Today, it’s independent community newspapers that carry the banner.

The pandemic has put in the spotlight the role the importance of the news media – Statistics Canada studies show traditional media is Canadian’s number-one source of information about the crisis – and the economic stress on the industry, though it’s not alone in that regard.

Traditional news organizations have long been counted on during crises, notes a study done last year by Ryerson University’s Local News Research Project.

“What’s new this time, however, is that public reliance on the news media has spiked at the same time as the pandemic’s eradication of advertising revenue is threatening the survival of many local news providers. The erosion of