KEEP THE PRESS FREE
Just a comment on this week’s Torstar/Postmedia closures. [Editor’s note: It was reported on Monday that Postmedia and Torstar had swapped 41 newspapers, with plans to close 36 of the titles, at a loss of 291 jobs.]
I live in what was B.C. Housing and is now charity-run social housing. Poor. And free papers are the only papers some people here have access to. I always see my neighbours reading Metro Vancouver, Westender and 24 Hours.
Internet in Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»is expensive. I would not own a computer if it weren’t for funding I got from a program the B.C. Liberals closed down after. The [Financial Post] doesn’t get delivered here. Hell, even the Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»Courier only has one box in the whole area.
But don’t mistake lack of access to news as a lack of interest in news. I have better conversations about Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»real estate in my lobby than I do on Twitter. You want interesting insights into the nuances of transportation issues? Right here.
We live with the immediate and ongoing effects of the decisions – or lack of them – by politicians in a way that others don’t. We have no insulation. No buffer. When B.C. government decided to just “transfer” us, Metro not only wrote about our building but published something I wrote about it.
Anyway, my point is local and free press play an important role in the community, especially for those with no access to Internet or paid subscriptions. —@mssinenomine via Twitter
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