Thursday, June 10, 2010
The
Ottawa Citizen
The Ottawa Citizen began as The Packet in 1845, and has continued as the first choice for news and information in Canada's capital for over 160 years. Each week, eight out of ten newspaper readers in Ottawa stay informed with the Citizen's in-depth analysis of local, national and international news and events. Distribution of the Citizen includes home delivery, retail stores and boxes and ottawacitizen.com, a 24-hour, up-to-the-minute breaking news and information website. Combined, this aggregated audience reaches half a million residents of Canada's capital each week.
The Citizen sets the standard in Ottawa for corporate responsibility with a community investment second to none. As the premiere media supporter, the Citizen sponsors arts and cultural groups, social services, health and education facilities, local business chambers and both professional and amateur sports teams. A strong focus on family and youth literacy projects includes a Newspaper in Education program, Raise a Reader, Canwest CanSpell National Spelling Bee and the Ottawa Citizen Literacy Foundation.
At last week's luncheon Mike talked about the history of the Citizen as well as the recent changes that the paper has gone through. One of the more exciting changes currently taking place is the purchase of Canwest's print media side by Paul Godfried after they filed for CCAA in the fall of 2009. The paper sold for 1.5 billion which was more than the 9.5 million price that the banks were asking. The paper still remains profitable and will be managed by Jim Orbin. Mike is optimistic that these are going to be good changes as Paul Godfried has a track record of turning failing companies around (i.e. Blue Jays and the Sun). He also indicated that another bright spot to the changes is that there should not be any layoffs as all restructuring was done previous to the CCAA filing.
Mike did mention that one of the things that the Ottawa Citizen is working hard on and will continue to grow is their online version of the paper. He brought his collegue Tom O'Malley with him to talk about the online side of things. Tom discussed with members how the internet has crept up on the traditional media methods of TV, Radio and Print as the way to get information and is now surpassing radio and is quickly catching up to print. The Ottawa Citizen online reaches more Ottawa area adults than other online English dailies and this will only grow with the introduction of their mobile product which allows an interface with smart phones. Tom spoke about how as the .com audience becomes larger it is important for advertisers to put a portion of their budget to online advertising. The Citizen staff is set up to work with businesses to help find the best and most effective plan for advertising dollars. They will work with you to find a good balance between both online and print based advertising depending on the type and size of business you run as well as the clientele you service.
In a global, media-rich environment the Citizen remains a trusted source for news and entertainment that helps make sense and meaning of a complex world. The Citizen is dedicated to inform, enlighten and entertain, while remaining relevant to both readers and advertisers alike. To find out more about the Ottawa Citizen visit their website. If you would like to know more about advertising in the Citizen and how they can work for you contact Michael O'Brien at (613) 596-3587.
