On Monday, councillors Trudy Klassen and Brian Skakun will introduce a motion to restore municipal advertising in local media, including an annual commitment of up to $100,000 for The Citizen to return to its historical role of publishing the city’s public notices.
The councillors are also calling for a reduction in advertising on American social media platforms like Facebook, greater transparency in how the city spends its advertising dollars and a public town hall to discuss the issue.
In 2022, when the city ended its longstanding commitment to publish statutory notices in print, it also removed a layer of accessibility and permanence.
The Community Charter requires that such notices appear in a printed publication unless otherwise directed by bylaw for good reason. We believe the default should still be publication in print — not just as a courtesy to older residents or those without regular internet access, but as a safeguard for the historical record.
It may have seemed efficient to shift to the city’s website and Facebook, but it also made notices easier to overlook, harder to archive and more dependent on algorithms and clicks.
It is past time for the City of Prince George to recommit itself to supporting local journalism through paid advertising. This is not a subsidy — it’s payment for one service (advertising) that supports another (journalism).
The Citizen had no prior knowledge of this motion. We did not lobby for this funding, and nobody here met with Klassen or Skakun to discuss this. We were as surprised as anyone when the notice of motion appeared on the council agenda.
Regardless, we believe this motion moves in the right direction.
For too long, taxpayer dollars have flowed out of our community to huge American tech corporations while local newsrooms across Canada have struggled to survive. Many have not.
In the city’s 2023 SOFI report, the only local media organization that the city spent more than $25,000 with was Vista Radio.
We believe that municipal advertising should support all local media, not just one outlet. We also believe that a fair and transparent procurement process should be applied, just as it is for other city contracts.
At the same time, it must be acknowledged that The Citizen is not just another media outlet.
We are the newspaper of record in Prince George. That distinction is not ceremonial — it is functional. We have served this community for more than a century, documenting local history — the triumphs, tragedies, and transitions.
And when it comes to public notices, a core requirement for provincial and local government transparency, there is no substitute for our format, which endures beyond digital trends.
That isn’t nostalgia. It’s accountability.
A permanent, printed record of every edition of The Citizen exists in archives and libraries and will continue to exist long after Facebook pages have been deleted or local websites have been overwritten or gone dark.
If council wants to follow through on its recent vote to buy local (regionally, provincially, or Canadian before looking elsewhere) then it should buy its advertising locally too
It’s an investment that should be distributed fairly and strategically to multiple local outlets.
Supporting those outlets, through advertising, so that they can continue providing the essential service of local journalism.
This is about a healthy media ecosystem. Spending money on advertising with American and Chinese social media networks doesn’t help our community.
We support the motion by Klassen and Skakun in principle. But we urge council to go further: fund all local journalism fairly and commit to a transparent process that reflects the importance of an informed and engaged public.
Public notices are not just about legal compliance. They are about public trust. Let’s build that trust by bringing it back home — and making sure it reaches everyone.
Write us a letter to the editor about this: [email protected].
