Lumsden area regains newspaper coverage

Several Saskatchewan newspapers were forced to close in the last few months when Star News left the province, but local publishers are stepping in to pick up the slack.

The Waterfront Press out of Lumsden in the Regina Beach area printed its last edition at the end of December, but residents in the area won't be left without a paper.

The Last Mountain Times out of Nokomis near the north end of Last Mountain Lake will be expanding its coverage to fill the gap.

Publisher Dave Degenstien said it didn't make sense for them to purchase the assets and infrastructure of The Waterfront Press, but an expansion was doable.

"It made more sense for us just to expand our coverage into that area. We took on a couple of the employees, and we're confident that the readers and advertisers that were formerly supporting the Waterfront Press will transfer that support to us."

'Old boys club'

Degenstien describes weekly newspaper coverage in the area as an "old boys club," where certain papers have been serving their communities for decades, and in the case of The Last Mountain Times, for 110 years.

"Having Lumsden out of the picture left a gap in the coverage for that particular part of the south end of Last Mountain Lake."

The expansion won't be easy for the family-owned-and-operated paper. The Last Mountain Times will be hiring two of the employees from The Waterfront Press, and Degenstien said there will be costs associated with expanding their coverage by threefold

"But I don't think it will be a huge change for us. We already have people and facilities in place to publish a weekly paper."

Newspapers in decline?

It's been a rough year for newspapers in Saskatchewan, with Star News making plans to sell or close every paper it owns in the province.

But Degenstien said that's a problem with Star News, not the publishing industry in general.

"The doom and gloom news around newspapers has been a little bit overblownThe exit of Star [News] is a bit of an anomaly."

He said he's confident The Last Mountain Times will be able to manage the expansion.

The first issue of the expanded paper will be out Jan. 15.