The Lakeland This Week newspaper is continuing to offer all area residents their local news – even during the Canada Post Strike. The media provider is also offering more access to local and regional news with free access to their online e-edition of the Lakeland This Week product.
It’s some good news being delivered – even if the mail isn’t, says Rob McKinley, at the Lac La Biche office of the regional newspaper.
Online access to the newspaper, that covers the Lakeland area including the communities of Lac La Biche, St. Paul, Bonnyville, Cold Lake, Plamondon, Elk Point and all places in between, will be made available through the www.lakelandtoday.ca website.
“Even though the strike will affect our paper subscribers, we want all of our residents to continue to learn about the events and news taking place around them in the community,” says McKinley.
The strike, which affects all CUPW members across the country working for the Crown corporation began on November 15 following a breakdown in negotiations between the union and the federal government regarding a number of issues including pay and benefits. The strike will have an impact on all mail arriving in community post offices. While staff at some post office locations are not part of the striking union, workloads will be affected as mail from outside of those communities will not be processed or sent by union operated locations.
The free online edition will be offered along with the continuing publication of the Lakeland This Week paper product. Existing subscribers can continue to receive their newspaper during the strike - but are encouraged to come to their local newspaper offices to pick up their copy. For those not able to make it to the offices, the online version is also there for them.
“We will continue to print our weekly newspaper, which is distributed in the community every Tuesday, but instead of going to their local post office, we are asking paid subscribers to pick up their papers at the local newspaper offices,” said McKinley. “Everyone else - anyone else can simply sign up to receive a free online version of the newspaper for the duration of the Canada Post strike.”
The decision to offer free online access to the weekly newspaper was to help provide continuing news, advertising, and promotional coverage for all residents of the region.
The local offices will also continue to accept new paid subscribers for the paper product during the time of the strike.
The Lakeland This Week newspaper currently distributes more than 9000 newspapers across the Lakeland region, Offering readership to a market area about 40,000 people. The www.lakelandtoday.ca website has monthly readership analytics totaling almost 200,000 page views a month.
For more information about the Canada Post strike, there are local, regional and beyond local news stories available from the province and nation-wide network connected to the www.lakelandtoday.ca site.
