Back in November of 2017, The Bradford Times weekly newspaper closed its doors for good.
For 26 years of covering community milestones, council news, the local police beat, business openings and special events at Bradford West Gwillimbury’s churches, sports arenas and schools, the Times wove together the threads that hold the fabric of a community together.
When it was suddenly closed, it was a shock to the community, and it left a gap.
Exactly one year ago, on April 30, 2018, independent online news platform Village Media Inc. launched BradfordToday — and has been working hard to fill the gap ever since.
It was a new concept for Bradford West Gwillimbury. BradfordToday is available online only, providing a daily stream of stories to readers on its website, social media, and straight to subscribers’ email inboxes — but it carries on the tradition of community news, working hard to identify the issues and concerns of residents.
Village Media brought in new, fresh faces like full-time reporter Jenni Dunning, who has been a reporter and editor throughout southern and central Ontario, but also engaged the old Bradford Times team — Miriam King, a founding mother of the paper, and Gary Assis, account executive who delivered the very first issue of The Bradford Times — to help ensure continuity and community engagement.
That commitment to community has been reflected in the response of readers. During BradfordToday’s first month, the website had just more than 20,000 readers and about 108,000 pageviews.
One year later, BradfordToday has more than 46,000 readers, and nearly 300,000 pageviews in just the last 30 days.
Whether it was municipal, provincial or federal elections and byelections, fires at historic homes in downtown Bradford, profiles of fascinating people and organizations in the community, or decisions made by town council, BradfordToday is becoming the town’s water cooler, where people can find out the latest news.
For me, it has been an exciting journey — being part of an expanded team, and part of a “Village” committed to journalism and reporting the news.
It has been different, there’s no denying that. It has been an adjustment, getting stories online on a daily basis, rather that looking ahead to a weekly deadline.
And, I confess, giving up the reins of control after 26 years, going from editor to just reporter, was hard at first — or it would have been, if not for the great team that “gets” the importance of local news.
Who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks?
So, thank you from Miriam, Jenni, Gary, Natasha and Patrick, and all the Villagers at Village Media for your continuing community support this past year, which has helped BradfordToday flourish in Bradford West Gwillimbury.
And if you can, join us today to celebrate our anniversary from 3-5 p.m. at Don Cherry’s Sports Grill.
