Piquing Your Interest:
Growing Independent News on Both Sides of the Border

In April 2004, I drove more than 3,000 kilometres to Paonia, Colorado. Paonia (pop. 1,574) lies on the western slopes of the Rocky Mountains and is the home of a small, independent newspaper called High Country News.

High Country News bills itself as “the newspaper for people who care about the west.” It covers stories from Montana to Arizona and west to the Pacific. And, as you might have guessed, its founder and staff inspired the creation of Prairie Peaks News.

High Country News has been in business for 35 years. Early on, the non-profit paper went through a succession of owners before it was taken over by Ed and Betsy Marsten.

Ed is a physicist and Betsy is a journalist. In the early days, they were concerned about oil shale development. As time passed, the mandate expanded to encompass all kinds of natural resource development and environmental issues. In the High Country News’ archives, I came across stories that are front-and-centre in western Canada: coalbed methane, sour gas wells, drought, rangeland and grassland issues. The quality of journalism on these key issues was beyond anything I had seen in western Canada.

Many of High Country News’ 35 years have been difficult. Throughout its history, the organization has relied upon subscriptions and individual donations for the bulk of its revenues. On more than one occasion, Ed and Betsy had to plead for donations from their readership. Readers complied and the newspaper soldiered on. Today, High Country News is a $2 million US organization with some 20 staff.

On the journey back to Calgary, I dreamed about creating a news organization like High Country News for western Canada. But, I struggled to see how the organization could be replicated in a financially viable way.

My concerns? Market size, consumers’ willingness to pay, and the fact that we didn t already have a newspaper like High Country News.

High Country News markets to a population of 64.5 million double the number of people in all of Canada, let alone western Canada. Prairie Peaks News would need tens of thousands of subscribers. No small task for what was at that time a one-woman show.

But, western Canadians are used to receiving free publications supported by advertisers. And, companies like to advertise in safe publications that cover local, entertainment, lifestyle and health issues. Finally, no other newspapers or magazines are filling the niche Prairie Peaks News is targeting. Invariably, potential readers and advertisers want to compare a new publication to something they know.

As the kilometres dissipated, a business plan began to form in my mind that addressed these challenges. The revenue model was founded on building stable funding from subscribers, advertisers, sponsors and content sales.

In this issue you see some of the results and our first advertisers: the Emerald Foundation, Zeidler Carruthers Architects, Enbridge, Alberta Energy and Utilities Board and the Glenbow Museum. Prairie Peaks News is looking for advertisers (like these) that support our efforts to provide high quality, balanced journalism. We hope to introduce you to others with each new edition.

Recently, Paul Larmer, the current publisher of High Country News, told me he sees advertising as a significant part of the revenue growth of his organization. I think the veteran and the up-start will continue to learn from each other as we strive to create financially viable, non-profit, independent news on both sides of the border.

Leah Lawrence
Founder and Publisher

Support our efforts to produce independent journalism about western Canadians, for western Canadians by subscribing today!

Prairie Peaks News is an independent, subscriber funded, non-profit media company.

RFID Sistemler

RFID sistemler ülkemizde ilk olarak istanbulda köprü gişelerinden araçların hızlı geçişi için OGS adıyla kullanıma başlandı. Amerikada daha çok askeri alanda kullanılan ancak Avrupa Birliği ülkelerinde sivil kullanımı daha yaygın olan bu sistemler ülkemizdede otomatik otopark girişleri ürün ve stok takibi gibi amaçlarla kullanılmaktadır.

Gelecek vaad eden RFID için ülkemizde 10 – 15 firma çalışma gösterirken bunlar içinden 3 – 5 tanesi ise RFID sistemlerin geliştirilmesinde gerek yazılım gerekse donanım olarak AR-Ge çalışmaları yapmakta hatta üretilen ürünleri yurtdışına pazarlamaktadırlar.