Will Quebecor Owned Cornwall Standard Freeholder Survive 2014? POLL

freeholder apologyCFN – One of the questions I get asked when chatted up in Cornwall the most is whether I think the Cornwall Standard Freeholder will survive?    The venerable old newspaper has endured changes in a changing media world.    It’s parent company, Sun News, owned by media giant Quebecor, has chopped hundreds of jobs over the last few years and folded several newspapers as the public clearly shifts to print.

One media poobah who I won’t ID stated:

All papers will be 100% online soon enough. Many of the dinosaurs will go extinct in the process.

Is the Freeholder a dinosaur?   One of the problems that all media face in tough economic times and reduced ad dollars is staff cuts which lead to challenges in outputting content which the public hungrily gobbles up.

The Freeholder currently picks up a lot of material from the Ottawa Sun and many feel that at a certain point as ad dollars shrink past the point of overhead that it will make more sense to add some extra Cornwall content to the Sun since people are reading its content in the Free Holder anyway?

I for one would be sad to see the Freeholder go.   While I wish they’d be better and kinder competitors what the Standard Freeholder represents is very important to the history and culture of this city as do many of the venerable papers that have fallen.

As this Sun News poobah shared with me in that conversation in reference to CFN;

Keep the faith. You are on the right track.

At the end of the day the public and advertisers will decide if the Freeholder or any of we media will survive.

What do you think dear viewers of CFN?   You can post your comments below.

 

7 Comments

  1. The SF is only treading water right now, its lack of printing ALL the Cornwall news plus printing actual lies & getting caught X 3 are all nails in their coffin RIP SF

  2. As far as I am concerned the SF could close its doors today and it wouldn’t make a difference. Last few years it has become more useful as a bird cage liner than it is something to read with any reliable information. Not worth the money to pay for it in my opinion. Can use the Seaway News as a bird cage liner and it comes free….just one guy’s opinion….

  3. Mr. Ellis was the backbone of the SF now that he is gone, only time will tell whether the paper survives or not with these changing times.

    Like you Jamie, I would be sad to see them go.

    Let’s face it, the amount of worthwhile news in this city is almost non existent compared to larger metropolitan areas. It seems at times the reporter has to grasp at straws to find news items in order to make the papers publishable.

    Before the internet, the SF and local radio was the only means available to keep in the loop of local issues and news so almost everyone was a subscriber. When newspapers become a thing of the past, if it does, I for one will miss it. My feeling is Quebecor is waiting to see if newspapers can survive with the changing times if not, we will be paying BIG TIME for online news.

  4. Author

    Stella there’s a ton of news. If CFN wasn’t handcuffed by this City Boycott and all of its tentacles and we actually had some resources to work with you’d be surprised what we could cover and the quality of that coverage.

    Without financial support from the community and advertisers we simply are hamstrung.

  5. Strange how stella was a “starlight” over at SF making comments left and right until a group called him out for his bully type tactic of accusing somebody of theft…whether they did it..or not..is irrelevant.
    Just the fact he thought he could use the anonymous internet to become judge jury and executioner…just like the folks that cutoff city funding to cfn

    I would add that it seems just a little bit much to be mocking the fact the Mayor’s cancer requires medical devices..go ahead use the bareass but leave the lastest description off the webpage
    It’s retarded!!

  6. “The toilet paper of record – SF” is just that toilet paper and to line the bird cage, train your puppy, use it for mulch in your garden, and a few other jobs that are useful but nothing for news unless it has to do with what the clique is up to and how much Bare Ass is hicking taxes up to oblivion and things of that nature. All news will be on line and that is the truth. There will be no hard copy. Just today my husband read that in the federal government all cheques will be sent to people’s bank accounts and no more sending cheques by mail. That will also do away with staff for some things and the post office will be on its way out as well. Canada is slipping down the hill like any other country and soon we will experience an economic catastrophe and Ontario has become a “have not” province. “The toilet paper of record” had its day and most of the people who read it are dead and more to come soon. Young people go online for what they want and Cornwall’s toilet paper of record sure isn’t one of them. I sure do hope that you succeed in your paper Jamie and it is a breath of fresh air and at the same time a lot of laughter for me this evening. It has been a lot while since I had a good laugh and this paper gave me plenty this evening for a good chuckle.

  7. No the “toilet paper of record – SF” will not survive for too much longer and I cannot pinpoint a date of departure on it but it won’t be for very long. Someone said that this Mr. Ellis is gone and less readership and I was blown over a few years ago when someone told me that the paper was no longer being printed in Cornwall but in Brockville and I said to him “that is the end of the paper for sure” and I knew then that it won’t be very long. Even the papers that have readership like Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto, etc. have a certain lifespan and most readers are on line. Most of everything is on line these days. It costs big money to hire so many people for all the different jobs and companies are cutting back. Cornwall’s “toilet paper of record” has nothing in it that is worthwhile reading so I sure wouldn’t blame anybody for not buying it at all.

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