Why there won’t be another daily in Kamloops

ARMCHAIR MAYOR SAYS — So many questions. Everybody’s got his or her own answers and opinions.

Since yesterday, I’ve been forming my own. Like so many others, I have the benefit of not being on the inside on this one, thus I’m freed from any encumbrances the facts may present. However, based on past experience I do try to look at such situations realistically.

Will The Kamloops Daily News rise from the ashes to fight another day?

No, the decision has been made. Nobody’s going to drive into town with a truck full of money, the government isn’t going to take it over, there will be no public fundraising drives that could save The Daily News, and TRU isn’t going to buy it.

All those things have been conjectured in the past couple of days. They originate from a place of pain resulting from the loss of the community’s daily newspaper. They’re heartfelt, desperate even. But in the real world, they won’t happen.

Will another daily newspaper come along to replace The Daily News?

Sadly, I don’t think there will be another daily newspaper in Kamloops for a very long time. It’s expensive producing a newspaper, especially six days a week. The costs of printing, staffing, marketing and distribution are high. If revenues from circulation and advertising don’t surpass costs, a newspaper can’t sustain itself. According to Daily News publisher Tim Shoults, the paper is closing for financial reasons. A lot of things were done in an effort to make The Daily News profitable, but the challenges of this marketplace are significant, and newspapers everywhere are still fighting to meet the changes brought about by social media.

Will something, anything, fill the void?

There will be an expansion of news coverage in some parts of the local media industry, but anyone expecting Kamloops This Week to completely fill the void will likely be disappointed. KTW does some excellent work, but I can’t see it expanding to the size of the KDN newsroom. There are other possibilities that could supplement the news menu. Someone might start a once-a-week paper to challenge KTW. In some markets, news websites have been successful, for example in Kelowna and Prince George. Such a site here would serve to help the competitive environment so crucial to quality news coverage.  Again, it would depend on the potential for revenues, so whether it will happen is a good question.

Is closure of The Daily News connected somehow with Ajax?

I read that theory today and it blows me away. Folks, opinions about Ajax really do need to be based on reason, logic, facts and vision rather than conspiracy theories. I’m guessing the proponent of the Ajax theory opposes the project, though I don’t know that for sure. One fact I do know is that The Kamloops Daily News has done a damn good job of covering all sides of the Ajax issue. Editorially, it has maintained a neutral position, though it has never attempted to influence the expression of personal opinions by its columnists, including my own. The result has been complaints by pro-Ajaxers that the paper seems to lean against the mine, while opponents claim the opposite. That’s one pretty sure sign the paper has been handling the issue well.

Are daily newspapers in general doomed?

No, they aren’t. Kamloops isn’t indicative of the future of daily newspapers or weeklies either. Methods of delivering the news will change, but many daily and weekly newspapers will survive. I really wish this one could have.

Would an online-only web news outlet or some other creative option be as good as having a daily newspaper?

You probably know my answer to that one.