Spring brings dandelions and newspaper boxes to the boulevards of Prince Rupert

Spring has sprung and in Prince Rupert it has brought both dandelions (above) 
and news paper boxes (below) to dot the landscape of the city

There seem to be two things sprouting up around the city as we head into the second week of May, the first the growing fields of dandelions making their annual appearance and the other, a surprising return of some newspaper boxes for the weekly paper.

The return of the Free Distribution boxes has so far been seen along 11th Avenue East along a stretch from McDonalds and on to the East, as well as on Sixth Avenue West not far from the intersection at Fulton.

There's been no official announcement to suggest that there is a larger roll out for the paper's news  box distribution plan and if a sticker found on the boxes in place is any indication, it seems to be an answer of sorts to a shortage of paper carriers in those areas of the city.

For the most part the previous distribution plan from Octoberr 2018 still seems to be the guiding blue print for the paper, with home delivery in place for most areas and a pay per copy policy at local stores, with a price of $1.50 the going rate for the weekly at news stands, convenience stores and such.

Though one imagine's that price savvy newspaper consumers may soon be flocking to the streets in quest of a free copy and a chance to look over the shopping flyers.

It's been a busy few weeks for the weekly paper, in addition to the distribution squad dropping off the papers in the resuscitated boxes; the editorial team has been hosting a Seinfeldian like airing of the Festivus grievances over the last two weeks.

That through a pair of editorials that seem to be addressing current issues of concern for the paper.

We took note of the week one editorial and its focus on blogging and social media last week with some notes upon our return from our Easter hiatus.

The most recent editorial of May 2nd, which you can access in print, or from page six of the e -edition (there so far is no link available for the website) speaks to the need for the community to determine the difference between what the paper offers and what the weekly calls "spoon fed journalism disguised as an attempt at free marketing".

The editorial also rattles off a list of the attributes of the staff's own work and declares that "no one will dictate what they should, or should not publish"  

Something which leaves open the question of who may be making such demands on the paper and how they put together their weekly roll out of the information that they believe will resonate with the community.

For more items of note related to the local media scene see our archive page here.


To return to the most recent blog posting of the day, click here.