'I'm not happy': Moose Jaw residents contemplate life after the Times-Herald
Some are accepting the printed paper's impending demise. Others, not so much
Moose Jaw residents are reeling from the news that their daily newspaper will itself become a page in history.
The Moose Jaw Times-Herald has been printing papers for more than 125 years. That all comes to an end next month, with the pressing of the Dec. 7 issue.
"It has impact across the board," said Marlon Hector, who has worked at the paper for seven years and served as the managing editor for four months.
"People are losing their jobs right before Christmas. And so I feel for all of them."
Hector will lose his job, too, but not before putting the final issues, and the paper itself, to bed.
"We want to finish strong," he said from the paper's office Thursday morning, where many subscribers came in to ask how their pre-payments will be refunded — and to lament the loss of the city's only daily newspaper.
Lots of subscribers coming in, wondering how payments will be refunded. Many lamenting the loss of the <a href="https://twitter.com/MJTimesHerald?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MJTimesHerald</a> and expressing sympathy to workers. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/newspapers?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#newspapers</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/moosejaw?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#moosejaw</a> <a href="https://t.co/XN6gKrWcIW">pic.twitter.com/XN6gKrWcIW</a>
—@mickicowanAmong the Thursday visitors to paper's office on Fairford Street (right across from the police station) was Wayne Coats. He's been a subscriber for the last decade.
"It was here, and it was good, and it's going and it's gone," he said. "That's the way it happens with a lot of things."
He'll get his news now from his wife's computer, he said.
Website's future unclear
What will happen to the Times-Herald website remains unclear, however. Publisher Roger Holmes of Star News Publishing has said his company will stop posting content to it, but demurred when asked whether the website is being shopped to potential new owners.
Not everyone's a fan of digital, though.
"I'm not happy because I get the paper all the time and I'm not one who goes on the computer, so I really will miss it," said fellow resident Linda Fortman.
"I've been getting [the paper] for, like, eons."
Hector's more worried about the information vacuum that will result from the paper's absence.
"We ask the tough questions which hold city council to account, which holds local government to account, and we dive deep into stories," he said.
"Everybody in this building, I think we all believe that it's going to leave a hole in this community."
Clarifications
- A previous version of this story stated that Marlon Hector was the managing editor of the paper for the last seven years. In fact, he has worked at the paper for seven years and has been in the managing editor role for the last four months.Nov 10, 2017 1:25 PM CT
with files from Micki Cowan