newsONTARIO COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION’S clipsOCTOBER 2006 http://members.ocna.org VOL. 20, NO. 10 Almaguin News joins Metroland family Reprinted with permission Friday publication date. The from the Huntsville Forester - Almaguin Forester will replace Wednesday, September 20, the Marketplace newspaper. 2006. “Our goal is to have the he Almaguin News, News remain a vital part of the the Highlands’ long- community. It has served the standing flagship Almaguin Highlands extreme- Wednesday commu- ly well for many decades, and nity newspaper, was we will strive to continue to Tpurchased by Metroland deliver quality journalism that Printing Publishing and reflects the many communities Distribution Ltd on September the newspaper serves,” said 15. Almaguin News general man- A deal to purchase the ager Bill Allen. News and its Friday paper the For the last 28 years Allen Marketplace had been in the has worked in the newspaper works for several months business. He has been in between Metroland and the Muskoka since the 1980s, and newspapers’ publisher Peter last year helped to launch the Barr, whose father M. W. Barr Almaguin Forester. He serves first started running the paper as general manager of in the mid 1960s. Metroland North Media’s The News will continue PUBLISHERS: A new chapter of the Almaguin News’ 120-year products across the Muskoka publication on Wednesdays, plus history is being written after Peter Barr, centre, passed the and Almaguin regions. with the Almaguin Forester reins over to the Metroland family. Now guiding the paper is gen- Allen said his driving phi- moving from a Thursday to a eral manager Bill Allen, left, and Joe Anderson. Continued on page 2 Queen’s Park Day Encouraging a success! today's youth hh, Autumn! As "TD believes that encour- Ontario 2006 begins to aging education and involve- Premier wind down, we ment by young Canadians is Dalton start to reflect on one of the best ways to invest McGuinty the past year's in the future of communities posing with Aaccomplishments. It is also across Canada. Supporting Metroland nomination time for inspiring awards that provide the President youth to receive a 2006 opportunity to recognize Murray Ontario Junior Citizen of the youth who are making a dif- Skinner at Year Award. ference in their communities the Queen’s The annual program is is a natural fit for TD's com- Park Day now in its 26th year. Long munity focus," says Scott Reception. time sponsor Tembec is Mullin, Vice President To read delighted to welcome TD Government and Community more about Canada Trust as a co-sponsor Relations at TD Bank Queen’s for this year's awards pro- Financial Group. Park Day go gram, says JP Bradette of "The Association is del- to page 7. Tembec Inc. Continued on page 9 WHAT’S INSIDE: HR Tidbits PAGE 3 Writing Coach PAGE 6 Queen’s Park Day PAGE 7 2 OCNA’S NEWSCLIPS • OCTOBER 2006 a word from OCNA... The future of community newspapers By Anne Lannan When asked the questions about how involved and active com- OCNA Member Services munity newspapers should be in their communities, all panelists ike so many other businesses, community newspapers stressed that both the business and its staff should be committed to have come to accept that change is inevitable and their towns and cities. Publishers around the room gave examples change is fast, especially in the past ten years. But if of how their participation in community events and fundraisers, community newspapers are to remain leaders and inno- such as the building of new arenas, has helped their communities vators in Ontario’s media market, they must have the as well as benefited the business. A strong and vibrant community Lability to adapt to change faster than other industries. goes hand in hand with a strong and vibrant community newspa- This was the message put forward by leaders of Ontario’s cor- per. Newspapers need to be and should be seen as leaders in their porate community newspaper groups during a publishers’ round- communities as they are at the hub of communications in their table session on the Future of Community Newspapers following towns. last week’s Queen’s Park Day. The panelists were asked to comment on the value of newspa- Organized by OCNA, the event featured discussions with per industry associations and all said associations like OCNA, Osprey Media’s President and CEO Michael Sifton, Metroland CCNA, and CNA for the daily newspapers, must continue to be Media Group’s President Murray Skinner, and Sun Media’s Senior relevant to the needs of their members, citing programs such as Group Publisher Cam McKnight in a serious but light-hearted dia- government advocacy and industry awards as examples of core logue covering a number of topics, moderated by Jim Cumming of services. Of the 302 member newspapers of OCNA, 163 or 54 per the Fort Frances Times. cent are corporately owned by companies operating both weekly Sifton challenged publishers to rekindle the spirit and passion and daily newspapers. that brought them to this industry as passion and courage are the OCNA wishes to thank all those involved in the event for their two key leadership traits that are needed to have the drive to be participation and support. successful. Community newspaper’s advantage over other media is our hyper-local content and connection with our communities, said Skinner. If we are fast on our feet to adapt, we will continue to be Almaguin News joins the leaders. Industry trends, says McKnight, come at us from around the world and many are more oriented to niche markets. Metroland Community newspapers need to learn how to capitalize on them. The panelists say trends and competition come in many forms, Continued from page 1 including the Internet which newspapers are beginning to make losophy is keeping ‘the community’ in the community newspa- money from. Skinner cited Metroland’s relationship with pers that he manages. He is well aware of the history of the News Workopolis and how they upsell their help wanted classifieds to – a history that stretches back to 1885 – and the first issue of the the online career site. Durham Region’s Group Publisher Tim Burk’s Falls Arrow. Whittaker told the group how they are posting daily video news- Along with the purchase, the News is seeing some personnel casts online at durhamregion.com with great response from read- changes. Staff from the News and the Forester have combined to ers/viewers. form a single team, one that will soon make their home at the Almaguin Forester office, located almost directly across from the Burk’s Falls OPP detachment. Better Newspapers Competition “We are fortunate to have staff members from the News keeping up the strong commitment to the community newspa- CALL FOR ENTRIES pers,” said Allen. “It is also exciting to be bringing the News and Forester teams together to create a strong new team.” Don’t miss the deadline of October 31. Part of the plans include providing more resources to the News, helping to modernize its infrastructure in an attempt to Entry guidelines and submission tags can be make the paper more contemporary for its readers. “We will continue to serve our readers and advertisers with downloaded from OCNA’s Members’ Intranet quality service and a quality product, with a goal of enhancing site at http://members.ocna.org the paper in the months to come. Feedback is always appreciat- ed,” said Allen. OUR CLIENTS ARE GRANTED www.weekliestoolbox.com EXCLUSIVITY E-mail: [email protected] FOR OUR PRODUCT WITHIN THEIR TERRITORY! TELEPHONE (TOLL FREE) : 1-877-444-4034 OCNA’S NEWSCLIPS • OCTOBER 2006 3 HR tidbits Employee Performance Management By Wendi Krulicki · a new plan is created by the supervisor on October 18 on Employee Performance OCNA HR Associate and the employee for the following year. Management. This one hour Lunch and erformance management is the Learn Management/Supervisory Webinar process of improving an employ- In order to have an effective perfor- Performance Management will be present- ee's performance through the use mance management system, employers ed by OCNA's HR Associate Wendi of rewards, development, and must ensure that an employee's perfor- Krulicki. discipline. It is important for mance is objectively measured. All you need to attend the presentation Pemployers to create a uniform performance This can be accomplished by setting is a phone and a computer with Internet management system in order to address competency standards and explaining how access. these issues consistently for all employees. each will be measured. Consequences for meeting and failing to meet the objective LEARNING OBJECTIVES What is the Purpose of a Performance standards should also be included in the This Webinar will provide tips and Management System? discussion. It is most important that information on how to manage your Employers who develop an effective employers ensure that the standards are: employee's performance. You will be pro- system are more successful at: · relevant and meaningful; vided with a performance management · retaining their best employees and giving · comprehensive; system, as well as forms and templates to them incentive to maintain their perfor- · valid and reliable; and implement within your own Newspaper. mance; · clear and understandable. · dealing with poor performers and docu- By the end of this hour-long online menting any problems; The Annual Review presentation, managers/supervisors will · reinforcing, correcting, and rewarding An annual review begins with a understand: behaviours; review of the employee's job description, · providing useful feedback and encour- job performance criteria, and the goals that · the importance of performance manage- agement to employees; were set for the year.