AWNA/Ad Canada Media meet with Premier’s communications department
AWNA and its advertising partner agency – Ad Canada Media, met with the Premier’s communications dept on July 6th to pitch a regular paid feature in Alberta’s community weeklies that would help keep Albertans ‘informed and onside’.
A curated monthly summary of eight key initiatives would be published in Alberta’s 90+ newspapers if the program is accepted.
Ad Canada Media CEO Jeff Beardsworth presented the latest Totum Research readership stats that show community weeklies in Alberta enjoy as high a readership as they did in 2005, before social media became a household word.
He urged the province to ‘control its message’ through community newspaper advertising. The Alberta government has been on a quest to communicate important information through social media channels, yet those channels ‘generate hostility, perpetuate misinformation and fuel echo chambers’. Beardsworth showed examples of how and why this is taking place. He also demonstrated how newspapers initiate thoughtful, productive and respectful dialogue.
Incoming AWNA President Mary Kemmis showed participants how ‘news deserts’ have been created in the U.S. and parts of Canada because newspapers have closed down,and no other medium, including digital, has been able to fill that void. She said the government can help ensure this doesn’t happen in Alberta by advertising government programs and services in community newspapers.
Thanks to Lisa Sygutek, AWNA Director and publisher of the Crowsnest Pass Herald, who arranged our meeting through her local MLA Roger Reid and her contacts with Premier Jason Kenney. Following our meeting, Reid invited our group to sit in the Legislature gallery during Question Period.
Deputy Communications Director/Premier Kenny’s Press Secretary Christine Myatt was in touch with me this week to advise they would get back to us soon regarding our proposal.