Will We Ever Have A Totally Independent And Locally Owned News Outlet With Enough Resources To Adequately Serve Our Niagara Region Again?
Doug Draper – Oh but I was so much younger then, at work in the 1980s in my role as an environment reporter in The St. Catharines Standard newsroom. photo taken by one of my old colleagues in the newspaper’s photography department
A Brief Commentary by Niagara At Large reporter/publisher and former St. Catharines Standard reporter Doug Draper
Posted January 13th, 2025 on Niagara At Large
Yes, I know. I have already commented on the fire that gutted the former St. Catharines Standard building in that city’s downtown this past December, 2025.
Yet I cannot help but comment, at least one more time, after visiting the demolition site on Queen Street this January 8th and seeing the remains of the newsroom where I worked as a reporter when The Standard while it was still independently owned by the Burgoyne family – the founders of the newspaper more than 120 years ago – and where so much good work was being done for the community by a great team team of old friends and colleagues that I was proud to be apart of.
To see the hollowed out remains of that newsroom just before the big machinery moved in to knock it down was one more reminder of what I think we have lost in Niagara in terms of a truly local and independent watchdog and source of information for the people who live and work in this region.
The Standard newsroom back in 1991 when it was fully staffed and the Burgoyne family still owned the newspaper.
Could we ever have something like that back again? Could we when so many other community-owned newspapers have disappeared across the country?
The gutted out remains of The Standard newsroom on the second floor before the machines moved in to knock it to the ground. a parting shot by Doug Draper
Believe it or not, and just like vinyl records have made a comeback, it’s still possible.
Just recently, a group of veteran journalists, with the support of members of the community, launched a newspaper that is available online and on paper in Burnaby, British Columbia, and their efforts are looking so promising that they received coverage on CBC’s National News.
I will have more on to say about that effort in B.C. and about what we can possibly do here to build a truly independent news organization to serve the people of Niagara in the days and weeks ahead.
Stay Tuned.
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Doug Draper, journalist, Niagara At Large
To visit a previous commentary posted on Niagara At Large following the fire at The St. Catharines Standard building, click on – https://niagaraatlarge.com/2025/12/08/what-was-left-of-the-grand-old-st-catharines-standard-has-gone-up-in-flames/
To watch a CBC report on the startup of this newspaper, click on the screen immediately below – Metro Vancouver journalists hope to turn the page on local news
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