The Mothership and the Daily

The media, which conveys the news, is in the news itself these days. Even our own mothership, Transcontinental Media, is making waves.

First off, a new daily newspaper has begun life in the Annapolis Valley. I picked up a copy the other day, figuring that with a risky venture like that, the new paper would really have to stand out in order to compete with the Chronicle Herald and the Daily News. It would have to be strong on local news, and particularly on news from the Annapolis Valley.

The newspaper, which sells for a dollar, is called the Valley Today. The copy I got hold of was issue number two, published a week ago Tuesday. It is an attractive newspaper, well designed, in a tabloid format (in other words, it is the shape of the newspaper you are holding).

Right off, however, I was disappointed to see that the large front page photograph was of a national story related to the war in Afghanistan. The idea of the Valley Today is said to be that people are frustrated with the lack of local news and this new venture will feature more of it, so I would have expected that to be reflected on the front page.

There was a reference below the photo to stories inside, so I checked them, thinking there would be a local angle to the war. But no, the stories were taken from Canadian Press, potentially available from other newspapers in the province. Consequently, I thought I would do an informal assessment of the amount of local versus other news in the paper.

This particular issue represents just a snapshot, as it is only one issue. I counted roughly 64 stories in the newspaper. Sixteen, or 25 per cent, were stories local in focus, produced by writers for the newspaper. Forty-eight, or 75 per cent, were wire service stories, which could be found in any newspaper. If three-quarters of the stories in the newspaper can be found elsewhere, it will be hard for the Valley Today to stand out.

I took a look at the photographs. There were many good, photos here, including a spread on Acadia homecoming days. All told, 42 per cent of the photos were taken by people stringing for the newspaper, while 58 per cent were wire service photos. I thought this was a pretty fair balance.

I then took a look at the sports. There were eleven wire service stories and one local story. Given the activities at the community, high school and university level in the Annapolis Valley, the fact that over ninety per cent of the sports stories were wire service stories (with no local photographs) was disappointing.

Putting out a daily newspaper is a daily grind. It is hard, day after day, to fill the pages with original material. Yet if the Valley Today wants to stand out from the pack and capture enough readers to make a profit, it will have to work harder to bring more local news to its pages. The Valley Today has to fight not just the other newspapers, but the electronic media as well, and in this context it has to do battle with another brand new contender.

Transcontinental Media has just launched a website intended to bring together its many weekly newspapers in one place, so that readers can get a comprehensive look at what is going on around this part of the province. Readers of this column will understand that I write for Transcontinental Media, so my observations are not unbiased (beyond my own humble attempts to make them so). I was intrigued by the website, because I am just as interested in what is happening in Yarmouth or Wolfville as I am by what is going on in Halifax.

The website is called Novanewsnow, and what it turns out to be is an electronic newspaper that incorporates material from the Advance, the Coast Guard in Shelburne, the Vanguard in Yarmouth, the Advertiser in Kentville, the Spectator from Annapolis County, the Register from Kings County, the Courier from Digby and the Hants Journal, from Hants County. That’s a pretty comprehensive look at Southwestern Nova Scotia.

Clicking on the website www.novanewsnow.com">www.novanewsnow.com">www.novanewsnow.com) brings up a colourful first page that contains news stories and columns from around the region, sections on the arts, business, general news, letters, opinion, obituaries, sports, and sections on police, seniors and students. The material that fills these sections comes from the eight weekly newspapers.

It’s a great forum for tying together the southwestern area of Nova Scotia, and it will be on my list for regular daily visits.

- Tom Sheppard can be reached at tsheppar@ca.inter.net