JASON PARKS

EDITOR

The team that acquired Prince Edward County’s — not to mention Canada’s — oldest community newspaper in May discussed their vision for the future at a meeting of the Rotary Club of Picton last week. The presentation on the Picton Gazette canvassed respect for its past, its duties in the present, and a pending re-design of both print and digital editions of the paper.

Invoking the legacies of Joseph Addison and Richard Steele, who wrote mini-essays designed to be read and discussed over breakfast in a daily journal called the Spectator, Chris Fanning spoke to early newspapers. These offered information on key topics of the day — commerce, fashion, politics, and literature. More importantly, though, they created a shared fabric, woven into the texture of everyday life. “Reading the same newspaper opened the door to neighbourly conversations and spirited, critical debate. Newspapers were at the centre of the development of a public, civic culture,” said Mr. Fanning.

“Addison and Steele aimed for a pleasant but edifying style, something that could be read while taking your morning tea. They hoped this would encourage their readers not just to compete to be first with the political news of the town or the world, but to reflect upon things, and share their ideas with others. They believed the life of the mind—concerning things moral, cultural, social and domestic—was as important as the news,” he explained.

Looking back at early issues of the Gazette, it’s clear the County newspaper saw itself in this tradition; it offered literature and commentary as well as news about the community it served. In an 1860 edition, the paper billed itself as “a conservative journal devoted to politics, literature, and general information.”

By 1878 it was “a Liberal Conservative Journal devoted to politics, literature, local news and general information.” The new publishers want to continue in the spirit of this tradition.

In a time before radio, movies or television, the newspaper “strove to supply some family entertainment.”

“I imagine that readers of the paper might compare notes on a serialized story begun one Friday, and speculate on the resolution of the cliff-hanger in the coming issue. To me, the substance of a story is less important than the conversations it might spark,” Mr. Fanning said. “A newspaper creates a community. It provides a common ground, something people have in common. It can provoke thought and discussion about current events, or about general ideas. Letters to the editor are a part of that discussion. So is a friendly exchange at the coffee shop or in the street. We hope to continue to create this common ground, not only in reporting on the issues facing the County, but also in creating the sense of shared experience: something we’ve read or a performance we’ve watched, or music we’ve heard.”

Noting the paper has seen it all in Prince Edward County since coming into the world as the Hallowell Free Press Dec. 27, 1830, Karen Valihora called the long history of the newspaper and its reporting “fascinating,” and said informs its new motto: “We are calling it Prince Edward County’s Newspaper of Record in a nod to its long history as a standard-bearer.”

“Calling it the County’s Newspaper of Record also establishes the commitment that we undertake; we feel a responsibility to be ‘the newspaper of record’, and we are going to try to have all the news — not just the press release news — but all the news residents need to know in order to be informed,” Ms. Valihora said.

Ms. Valihora gave a presentation on the many changes in the works for this historic paper. A sophisticated re-design of the print edition will be accompanied by newspaper boxes to line the Main Street, which connects Picton, Bloomfield, and Wellington. A completely re-vamped website will hopefully expand its advertising reach, while the paper’s new offices at 100 Picton Main will re-establish its longtime public presence. New signage was just installed over the door, a giant, old-style Gothic “G” — a nod to the nearly 200 years the paper has survived.

“We hope this renewed and refreshed version of the newspaper will serve as a ‘town square’ in print, with expanded news coverage, entertaining and thought-provoking editorials and columns, more Letters to the Editor, and a range of freelance submissions, covering the arts, what’s on stage, food, wine, all the county has to offer.”

The improvements to the print edition will be matched in the digital and social media worlds as well with the new website.

“Both traditional print and digital media are under attack from all sides because we now expect the internet to be, like the air we breathe, free. We are looking to draw in readers in as many ways as possible in order to sustain this historic newspaper into the 21st century,” Ms. Valihora added.

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