The Free Press newspaper, which launched as the N.D.G. Free Press in 2009 and later expanded to include neighbouring west-end communities, has published its final issue, its editor told Mike Cohen and the Montreal Gazette.
Its sister paper, the Westmount Independent, will continue to publish, David Price says.
As a free paper, distributed mainly through the mail, the twice-monthly Free Press required advertising revenue to survive, but despite a recent plea to readers, the paper couldn’t find enough advertisers to become profitable.
The Free Press wasn’t the kind of news machine that you’d find at the Montreal Gazette or CBC or La Presse, but it was independent, and it tried to fill the hole left after Transcontinental shut down what was left of the old N.D.G. Monitor. There’s still The Suburban, which has a west-end edition, and of course the daily Gazette, but residents of that part of town will be less connected to what happens in their community.
I will be consulting the community. Maybe there will be something we can do to save #NDGFREEPRESS
— Marvin Rotrand (@MarvinRotrand) February 28, 2017
City councillor Marvin Rotrand tweeted something offering hope something could be done to save the paper, but that seems too little, too late at this point.
Maybe an online addition is something they could look at producing
It takes money to advertise. That comes out of the pockets of business, not from platitudes and feel-good slogans from those besotted with the word ‘community’.
NDG announced last week it was ending the annual summer street fair on Monkland Avenue, the hub of NDG’s commercial activity. Locals had complained about noise and traffic.
So terminating a fun event that doubles as a marketing tool is not only not friendly to business but seems to lack an understanding of the brutally competitive retail environment bricks and mortar stores are facing from online shopping. Now moer than ever, commercial hubs with their own unique vibe (like Monkland Avenue) need to keep themselves uppermost in the minds of consumers, both locals and those living elsewhere.
That’s where profits come from, and the money to advertise.