Readers scanning the pages of LighthouseNow for Town of Bridgewater announcements will have to look elsewhere.
The town has moved tender and public notices to the South Shore Breaker.
The province requires municipalities advertise that information in a paper of record.
The Town of Bridgewater has recently changed providers for print advertising related to legislative changes, public meetings, and other items that the Town is required to advertise in print media under the Municipal Government Act. (1/2)
— Town of Bridgewater (@TownBridgewater) November 29, 2018
Going forward, the public may find such required advertising published in SaltWire Network print productions, including the South Shore Breaker and/or The Chronicle Herald. Thank you for your attention to this matter and we invite you to share this message. (2/2)
— Town of Bridgewater (@TownBridgewater) November 29, 2018
Ken Partridge, managing editor for Advocate Media, the parent company of LighthouseNow, says placing notices in a flyer pack may not be the most effective way to reach residents.
“Whereas, if you have a circulation model like we do, where people are actually paying to receive it, you know that those people are engaged and are interested and going to be more likely to read your message.”
Partridge says whenever anyone has to make a purchasing decision, they need to think about the cost and the value they receive in return.
“Considering the value that I believe Lighthouse brings to this community, I would argue that it’s the greater value. Maybe not the cheapest, but the greater value.”
Partridge feels while the Breaker rents a local office, that doesn’t make it local.
He says LighthouseNow has served Bridgewater for over 140 years and employs around 25 people who live in the community.
He adds their coverage of local councils, sports events, businesses and community news far exceeds anything the Breaker can provide.
And he’s disappointed the town isn’t supporting those efforts.
Meanwhile, Bridgewater’s mayor says the move isn’t a commentary on the quality of LighthouseNow.
David Mitchell says the decision was solely about advertising and how the town communicates with the public.
“I certainly don’t want this to be seen as the Town of Bridgewater isn’t happy with local media,” says Mitchell. “They come to our council meetings, they’re the only written media source that comes to our council meetings, and that’s a huge service to the community for sure.”
Mitchell says council has to be responsible with taxpayers money.
He says a scoring system was established and the Breaker came in at a lower cost and with larger circulation.
Because the Breaker is part of the Chronicle Herald’s Saltwire network, Mitchell hopes the town will save money on tenders by getting their notices in front of bidders from across the province.
“And that really is what it boils down to. It has nothing to do with the local reporting and everything to do with, this is the process, we had two bids and we went with the bid that met the criteria.”
Earlier this year, Saltwire shut down the Queens County Advance, assigning Region of Queens coverage to the South Shore Breaker.
Reported by: Ed Halverson
Twitter: @edwardhalverson
E-mail: halverson.ed@radioabl.ca
