Happy New Year, we need your help

Jeff Green | Jan 08, 2020

I hinted at this in my Christmas editorial. At the Frontenac News we are committed to continuing in the task we have carved out for ourselves over the past 48 years, to support the many small communities in Frontenac County, by covering local issues in a timely manner, keeping an eye on municipal and provincial politics as they effect our readers, and chronicling the joys and sorrows of life in a changing world. We do that work now using modern media platforms; through our web services and social media, but the bedrock of our service remains the physical paper that we send out to 12,500 households each week. No other platforms provide the opportunity for everyone in the community to read about what their friends, neighbours, local businesses and governments are doing.

That is why the municipalities and our advertisers continue to support us. They know that it is the best way to ensure that every resident in their area has access to important information.

But the cost of the blanket coverage that we provide is prohibitive. By our calculations, it costs $30 per year to put the newspaper you are reading in your hands each week. We are committed to keeping the paper and frontenacnews.ca/Frontenac-live.ca free but we are once again asking readers who can afford, and are so inclined, to pay for their own paper through a voluntary sponsorship.

Some can pay $30, some less, some more to cover for those who can’t. All donations are welcome. Again, this year we are offering a free classified ad (a $12 value) or an equivalent discount on a larger ad, to be used in 2020, as a thank you for a sponsorship of any amount.

We provide receipts to sponsors but since we are a for profit, private enterprise, the receipt cannot be used for a tax deduction. We thank you for considering this request.

Looking forward to 2020, there are reasons for optimism in this region. Our rural lifestyle, with the promise of better and better cell and internet services, is making moving here more and more attractive. While it is not always easy, the business climate is improving in our communities. New ventures are cropping up all the time. Building activity from South to North continues to increase year over year.

At the same time, we can no longer ignore the reality of climate change, both in terms of our collective lifestyle and its impact on the regulatory environment and the economy. It is no longer a problem to be solved at international conferences or through federal or provincial policy. It is something we need to look at in our communities and in our own homes, and our coverage must reflect that as well.

As you can see in this first edition of 2020, the question of how our municipalities are able to react to changing conditions will be a major concern this year, and we look forward to covering it. We are also hoping to introduce new features this year and an improved integrated web and print services directory, that will be unfolding over the next few months.

Welcome to the 2020’s.