Starting a multicultural newspaper in Ontario, Canada?
July 10, 2016 7:59 PM   Subscribe

“Content is king” is of course the most important rule of all, but what other important things does one need to keep in mind when starting a medium-run newspaper in Ontario?

The newspaper's primary target audience is ethnic and there are a few newspapers that already do this, but the new newspaper can do it better and with more style. There is already a writer and graphic designer on board, so there are no problems in terms of quality content and presenting it in a classy way, but how can one attract potential advertisers if it is a brand new project? Would charging for a small fee keep people from thinking it is spam or worthless? Should there necessarily be a digital counterpart to the print version? What questions should one ask about the trademarking process and what kind of registration (government or otherwise) am I looking at?
posted by omar.a to Media & Arts (6 answers total)
 
I edit several (successful) free newspapers, so from my perspective, no you don't need to charge. And in this day, it is getting harder to convince people to pay for newspapers and news at all. You will keep people from thinking it is spam or worthless by making a newspaper that looks good and is filled with good journalism (though you will never win everyone over).

Not having a website will limit your audience a lot (especially young people) as well as advertising sales (you still can't anywhere near charge as much for an online ad as a print one, but some advertisers will want a print and a web ad). It will also help you spread the word about your new paper much faster. If your articles are good, people will want to share them on social media.

I can't answer your other ad questions with much authority, because I work in editorial (there's one tip — keep the editorial and advertising sides of the operation totally separate) and because I'm a bit unsure who your target market is. Is it one ethnic community, or just generally ...non-caucasians, I guess? If it's one, you want to target businesses and events related to that community, and possibly those generally targeted at expats (phone cards, money wire services, etc). The publisher I work for has one paper dedicated to a specific ethnic community, and most of its ads seem to be related to health care (it's readers are mostly older folks... that's true of most newspaper though).

"Attracting" advertisers is probably the wrong way of looking at it, initially, though -- if you're starting this thing from scratch and you have no experience or connections, you're going to have to do a lot of cold calling/emailing and networking and selling yourself to them. A website may also come in handy here -- if potential advertisers can get an idea of your paper before you launch, they're going to be more likely to agree to buy ads.
posted by retrograde at 9:15 PM on July 10, 2016 [2 favorites]


Yeah, what exactly is your demographic?

First generation people who have recently immigrated tend to want accessible, targeted, practical info (in both content and ads) - about jobs, short training programs, renting or buying property or cars, etc. In that case, for advertisers, reach out to small and medium business owners and professionals providing necessary services to the community (lawyers, health care providers, banquet halls/community orgs that facilitate weddings/funerals/etc). Except there are usually known and free channels for that info / those ads - OMNI, that 100.7 radio station, the free papers... you would have to offer advertisers better access than they already get.

The added value content that people would pay for (that i've seen) would be special things, like recipe collections, longer form stuff on local history viz the diaspora, etc. But that's for a somewhat established community with a few existing cultural anchors. Older members of the immigrating generation. They might pay a premium for that.

But not sure their kids would. Afaik,
second gen people connect / seek info re ethnicity either not much at all or through student groups and university papers, blogs, community groups, long form pieces in new and traditional mainstream media. (Speaking as a 2nd gen person with 2nd gen friends.) But this is an impression, could be denied/confirmed with research. But yes, who is this for?
posted by cotton dress sock at 9:39 PM on July 10, 2016


Response by poster: 40-90 year old immigrants. Think conservative folks similar to Old-Country Italians/Greeks or even first generation Turkish/Arab/Persian people.
posted by omar.a at 9:57 PM on July 10, 2016


All immigrants in that age range? Or a particular group? (You said it's going to be "multicultural", not sure what you mean by that...) The different immigration waves (and visa classes) have different interests and challenges... some have access to a solid community infrastructure, while that's emerging for others... some just want to get by, others are looking for investment advice... and if they are looking for the latter, they'll either stick with their own (ethnic) community resources, or go full Canadian/aspirational and read the Globe and Mail , join the PC party... idk, looking to share info/experiences/resources with members of *other* ethnic groups (and paying for that) seems less likely... but maybe I am lacking vision.
posted by cotton dress sock at 11:07 PM on July 10, 2016


I think you're going to have to define multicultural -- will the paper only be in English? That could be a barrier to this age range depending on the English literacy of the immigrant group and it may undermine your purpose.

The strength in ethnic media often comes from meeting people's direct needs -- this comes in the form of job ads, spreading word about local ethnic-owned businesses, connecting people to health and welfare benefits and government services, writing articles relevant to their needs/interests, and reproducing content about world news and issues important to the group that might not be available in their language in your country. A lot of ad revenue can come in simply because it creates a network for businesses in ethnic communities to tap into. I also know a lot of first-generation immigrants who go to work for ethnic newspapers because they don't need to know a lot of English to work those jobs. If you want a multi-cultural paper, you're going to have to navigate a lot of different languages and cultures at once.

You also want to think about the longevity of your paper. A lot of ethnic newspapers that were thriving 20 years ago went away in 2008 and the ones that are left are struggling to retain audiences that are young, multi-lingual and that have other options for news. Or they are struggling to find new reporters to replace their old ones -- especially younger ones who are culturally and linguistically competent.

For example, in California there is a large number of Vietnamese language publications, most which cost between 25 cents for a broadsheet print copy and 1.50 for a weekly magazine. Nearly every publication has a website now and one has piloted an English equivalent targeted toward young professionals and the teenage children of their main audience -- first-gen immigrants 40 and above. A lot of them are read worldwide by the broader diaspora, so having a website can help generate a lot of revenue and expand the readership. These papers were really booming up until about 2008, and then the community hit a point where the older generation was dying off, and the younger reporters/writers/readers didn't seem to be interested in these publications. So even if your target group is 40-90, make sure your content can keep up with the changing needs of the 40-90 group as generations change. Writing about cross-cultural issues, assimilation and generational gaps between parents and children -- those are key issues for communities in transition. Also, I never stop hearing complaints about how ethnic media does not cover local government issues in different languages.

You might want to consider hiring immigrants who were writers and journalists in their home country to staff your newspaper or consult with them for what would appeal to their audience. They probably know all the people who would pay for ads and what kind of content your potential audience will want. There are probably a few local hangouts for the writers and political types. If you actually want it to be successful, you're going to have to be very, very strategic -- or else you might as well call it a community newspaper that happens to cover ethnic communities competently (which would make you special).
posted by mmmleaf at 12:55 AM on July 11, 2016 [1 favorite]


You may want to contact The Karibu News, out of Buffalo, New York.
posted by Riverine at 10:58 AM on July 11, 2016


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