Wowā¦I canāt Believe this one!!!
Hereās some linkage regarding the shutdown of the daily news and other local newspapers.
Well it should be taken as an Awakening, I believe this present council shall be looked upon as the Chamber of Shit Council for years to come, I said it years ago BOOM MY ASS when Pond got stuck with that word in his throat. I do hate the thought of these employees going down and yes all the individuals who tried to make ends meet with it. Also think or fear that Victoria will have to step in and slap each council silly and then take action as I believe they can do if things go too bad. My fellow Rupert Citizens have been and are being screwed over every day by these idiots in council and a Chamber of Commerce who seem to not know where to begin.
Time for all of youĀ to leave that dead end rain hole! i live on van island so much better then rupert. Every thing is better from jobs to shopping to weather.
I only wished i moved hear, years agao.
Glacier:Ā Something that moves very slowly, and will soon be extinct.
Thanks for the memories!
Iād personally like to thank MiG, the Podunkian and Eccentric for giving me something read and often laugh about (in a good way, not at youā¦ though in the Podunkianās caseā¦) on at least a weekly basis.
Iād really like to thank MiG for allowing me to misquote him and not coming down to the Daily News office and slapping me around a bit.Ā Itās mostly my ears and face that thank you, but they canāt type.
Thanks to many of the readers for allowing me to write shoddy stories without relevance to the community. Your suffering in silence was greatly appreciated.
Iām sure, as a former colleague once wrote, that fine newspaper, the Northern View, will continue with their news coverage and attempt to bring this little community on the North Coast the most relevant and best coverage in the region. Stay reading, people.
It has been a blast----------------------> Football season is over.
I was paperboy selling the dailynews when i was 9 years old,it is a real sad day
for prince rupert,im so sorry for the folks who work there it must be such a shock
lets pray the company will treat you with the respect that you all deserve and thank
you for sharing your work with us.
Mr.BakerWriter, thank you for all that you have done for our community, it has always been fun for my fella and I to chat with you and we wish you all the best in your future endeavoursĀ 
Keep us posted on your new journey as I know many of us will wonder how you are doing or maybe who youāre pissing off, yeah, that might be more funĀ Ā Good Luck to you !
What exactly do you think they could have done to keep the Daily News open? The city doesnt own the paper or have any influence over who bought it.
The city may have its faults, but I really donāt see how they are to blame for this chain of events. Obviously it is sad that we are losing the Daily News but letās be real here. This has more to do with the economy and changing media options than it does with them.
I also think, to be fair, that our town, for better or worse has been on an economic downslide for over a decade or more as a result of many factors, in particular the loss of productive fishing and forestry (pulp mill) sectors. This, more than anything has been the underlying cause of many of our current problems.
However, back to the topic at hand, I, for one, will miss the personal touch of the Daily News and I wish all those who are working there the best of luck in the future. You have done a lot for our community.
Im sorry but you cant blame this one on city hall my friend.
Well to start I am not just talking about The Daily News when I lay blame on council or the ones who stole my votes and abused them. I do believe that it is the responsibility to get out there to find ways of promoting this community and sitting down with Chamber of commerce to help figure out some plan to help rescues what we have left. Put an F*^*#N sign out on the highway saying we are open for business like I have seen in other communities through my years. It should have said Council Chamber of Silence. Very rarely do we see any of those seats out in the public walking our streets with normal folk. They will not listen to us who know nothing and they choose not to inform us of anything the city plans. My vote was wasted on every single one of them and yes they are responsible for keeping this community moving forward. Take a walk around especially 3rd. ave and count the number of retail stores which are empty. The Daily News is unfortunate maybe someone will buy the building and start another Grow Op like they had across the street. So give me a break and those are my feelings.
Mr. George, it has been great getting to know you in the community. I have enjoyed your articles and was happy to see your reports before the gag came on.
I am sorry to see the paper go and the lost of so many jobs. Many of the carriers it was a delight to see them and have to appreciate the weather they went through to get the papers out. Will certainly miss the people and do hope there will be jobs for them.
Makes me wonder what other business is next.
If more people had bought subscriptions and bought ads in the classified section, perhaps this paper could have continued.Ā
I suspect that its costs had been cut to the bone but the revenues simply could not carry it.Ā
A quick google search gave me the following quote regarding the closing of newspapers are closing throughout North American.Ā
Many Reasons for Newspaper Decline Put forward Writing in The Globe and Mail (June 13, 2009) Ryerson University journalism teacher Suanne Kelman said there is no single cause for the troubled times hitting papers: Ć¢ā¬ÅThereĆ¢ā¬ā¢s the stampeding flight of advertising, the publicĆ¢ā¬ā¢s loss of trust, the decline in literacy, blogging, a reluctance to pay for news, a market fragmented into shardsā¦Take your pick.Ć¢ā¬
Ā Ā Pantagruelā¦ I agree with all that is stated in your post.
We live in a very different world of communication, and unfortunately we will see things we were once familiar with fade, and like it or not, you must keep up with the new worldā¦
I worked for 7 years in the newsprint paper manufacturing business up in Mackenzie. All the big news companies were our customers. In the 7 years I was there I saw sales decline 2%/year, every year, for the 7 years I worked there. We worked very closely with our sales folks to see if our sheet was being squeezed out by other sheets, but that simply was not the case. In the end, the only way for us to maintain volume was to start shipping to developing countries that currently have burgeoning newsprint industries and exponential growth in readership. When I left, India was purchasing 25% of that millsā production.
It would be wrong to say that newspapers are dead in North America, but they are most certainly on an irreversible decline. I really enjoy a thick weekend edition newspaper, but alas its hard to get one delivered in Prince Rupert.
We did not renew our subscription when it came up this spring for several issues. We continuously complained about not getting regular delivery, and eventually gave up calling. Sometimes we would get the guy in the black truck to drop off a copy, but Iām not sure what the deal was for getting a reliable carrier. When I went into the office to complain in person, there was always a stack of the previous days papers available for pickup, but it seemed an empty gesture after the 5th time I went in, as if this level of customer service should be expected in Prince Rupert. For a while we were getting two copies a day. I have a lot of respect for the local reporters willing to put their thoughts to paper and live in that public spotlight, but I found that some of the reporting was of the quality suitable for bulletin boards like this one. Although it was interesting to see the local spin hit the newspaper when you knew the whole story was not being reported, but got published anyways. The global reporting in the paper was 3 days old which if I didnāt have access to television, radio, and the internet would be a modern miracle, alas 3 days old is a waste of ink.
Itās sad to see the business model fail, but there are too many things against it right now. I hope the local reporters land on their feet.
Respectfullyā¦
Tim
So I swore a few months ago I would only post once on this site, but in light of what has happened, I figured Iād break my promise. Hey, do unto others what they have done to you, right??
For now, Iām not going to throw any stones (although now that the Daily News is about to cease to exist, I think the Podunkian, off the record, of course, should come clean and let Baker and I know who he really is!!) and offer up this: every single employee in this building worked their frigging ass off, especially over the past year when weāve been cut down to the bone.
Yes, weāre a union shop, and itās possible what occurred here had a lot to do with that, but if anyone thinks we were slacking, they are seriously mistaken.
And that is especially true here in the newsroom. We may have been criticized in the past for typos, or perhaps not going as in-depth as we couldāve (if we actually had the time or resources to do so) but there arenāt many publications in Canada (in fact, thereās probably NONE) that can proudly claim that each reporter pumped out 3 local stories a day. In a 7.5 hour shift.
3 stories a day, in a town of what, 9000 people right now? Iām still amazed how much news there is to cover here on a daily basis, but I guess, not any more. Sigh.
And yet ā¦ I enjoyed every minute of it, and I have to admit I am concerned whatās going to happen with all of the sports clubs/associations here in town that will no longer get the coverage they deserve. Pity, really, considering how difficult it is for any of our local athletes to make names of themselves when all opportunities, it seems, are down in Vancouver (Best Ever hockey camps, basketball, soccer, etc). Sometimes, just getting that community support is the only thing they can hope for, but what happens when the public no longer has any idea whatās going on?
The same could be said for music and theatre too, but I digress.
Anyways, there are not many people on this planet who ever get to say this, but I did love my job, and I will miss it, and have enjoyed working for the Daily News for 7 years. It is extremely sad that our daily wonāt reach 100 - at times, I felt, we were the one staple that people of this town could still hang on to when everything else was going wrong - but unfortunately, the business climate of 2010 - especially when it comes to newspapers - is rather dark indeed.
I do love this town (Iāll take rain over snow any day) and hope I donāt have to leave, but who knows what the future has in store now. Especially after youāve felt like youāve been run over by a truck. 
Agreed Patrick. Nicely put.
The reason the papers never got delivered properly is because the kids that were doing the job of paper carriers, a lot of them would rather sit in the house and play videogames than get out there and do something with their lives. That too, is a sign of the times. Then, the former owners decided it would be a good idea to make wednesday and fridays free. Well, try having a 100 house route, and delivering 100 fully stocked papers. For a kid of eight years old, or even older, thatās almost impossible to do. Theyād probably fall over with the shear weight of the things.
I always enjoyed reading the paper, Iām likely a rare breed because most people my age rely on the internet for their news.
Itās nice to know, that after all of the bitching, whining and complaining Iāve read about āThe Snoozeā on this site, that some of the posters on this forum actually did appreciate reading it. Iāll miss it coming to my mailbox, and seeing it on the coffee table. Iāll miss the nights of silence when my dad would write up his articles to appear in the sports column.
I was watching Global news, apparently there are four papers being closed. One is over a hundred years old. And is likely one of the oldest news papers in BC. Itās extremely sad. Itās sad that this new company didnāt give the Daily a chance to pick itself upā¦
Farewellā¦
Patrick you did your job well all of you did you have nothing to be ashamed of,or
feel there was something you folks could of done.I know the city has no control
over this but my god what kind of message are we sending out there someone
needs to get it under control we cant have this happening every few months,our
mayour needs to step up and meet with the business sector and find out if there is
anything they can do to make sure this does not continue,i hope the best for you
hard working folks you will be missed.
One comment Iāve made many times over the years is that its tough to run a successful business when you put it in the hands of a 10 year old.