Iconic N.B. newspaper finds new life under new ownership

It's not often you hear about a community newspaper coming back from the dead.

But that's what one TV station in southwest New Brunswick has done with a once-iconic paper after it shut down this spring.

CHCO-TV's website now includes a digital revival of the longtime local paper, the St. Croix Courier.

The Courier, which was based in St. Stephen, had been owned and operated since 2002 by Advocate Media in Nova Scotia. It halted publication in May as the company considered next steps and floated the idea of CHCO taking over.

During Advocate Media's last years of ownership, CHCO reporter and news director Vicki Hogarth said the fact that reporters for the newspaper were working remotely from another province was a challenge.

"And I think that lost that community connection of having someone going to the council meetings, interviewing people in person and just being about those feet on the ground and hearing what's going on in the community," Hogarth said, speaking to Information Morning Saint John.

Fewer people in the area were reading the paper, she said. "But it still holds a lot of importance for the people of Charlotte County, just for how long it's been a huge part of the fabric of our community."

The Courier, a storied paper, started printing in 1865 — two years before Confederation.

CHCO, based in Saint Andrews, has been part of the community for 30 years, so Hogarth said it felt right to take over the Courier. And because of the challenging nature of the printed newspaper business in this day and age, Hogarth said it made sense to bring the it back as an online edition.

Hogarth declined to say how much it cost to buy the Courier.

The new website is paired with CHCO, and Hogarth said she now has a full-time reporter/editor writing stories. 

"And we'll look to what the community wants to do for how we go about what comes next," Hogarth said.

If the community still wants a printed edition, she said it might be possible by next spring, but that would involve rebuilding the subscriber base and figuring out advertising. The paper's archives will also be available on the site soon, she added. 

She's also working to bring back elements of the paper that existed in its heyday, "To fill those spots that people hold so highly in their memories of what the paper used to be."

That includes a former cartoonist, a high school student who wants to write a column, a music writer and reaching out to former reporters to see if they want to be involved again.

Hogarth said she thinks people are relieved to see the St. Croix Courier continue on.

"I know that they value the importance of, you know, not just local news, but local content. And that's what we're hearing right now is just this huge relief that they're not going to lose it."