Journalists from a few major Metro Vancouver news publications that closed earlier this year are now banding together in a fight to save local news.
We reported that three news publications in Metro Vancouver were shutting down in February. The three publications that closed were Burnaby Now, New Westminster Record and Tri-City News.
“It is with a heavy heart that we announce the closure,” a post on the New Westminster Record said at the time.
Now, journalists who formerly worked at these publications are hoping to launch a new publication. Daily Hive spoke with Cornelia Naylor, who has over a decade of experience and was part of the Burnaby Now and New Westminster Record teams.
Who’s ready to save local news in Burnaby, New Westminster & the Tri-Cities? WE are! If you want to help bring reliable, local news back to these communities, join us! Our fundraising campaign kicked off today. Visit https://t.co/xZdgPF1WoY for more info pic.twitter.com/bHNgoPB9ko
— Cornelia Naylor (@CorNaylor) June 4, 2025
They’ve launched a fundraiser with a goal of $100,000 and hope to launch a new publication later this year. We asked Naylor why Glacier Media shut down the local news publications.
“They cited financial problems or financial challenges, and there was not much more explanation than that.”
Naylor says the end goal is a community-owned, worker-run news cooperative, and the hope is that this publication will fill all the gaps left behind by the shuttered Glacier publications.
“I think this model is already working in Quebec. It would be the first in Western Canada.”
We often hear politicians talk about local news and its importance, and asked Naylor if the government can play a role in this journey to build a new publication. Naylor first expanded on the situation in Quebec, where six daily newspapers were set to be shut down.
“The government, I think, jumped in with interest-free loans, and there was fundraising.”
The co-op move saved those Quebec publications.
Naylor said governments could also help through advertising.
“That’s something that some of the local governments stopped doing when we stopped being a print publication, and I think that was part of our challenge on some level.”
The print aspect is a big part of this push to save local news. In the digital age, we wondered why print, which consumes a significant amount of resources, remained so important.
“One of the things we’ve heard is that people are most excited about print. People want to have something they’re holding in their hand that’s not a screen.”
Naylor added that she feels there’s a hunger for it out there. It’s also crucial for archival purposes.
“The physical archives of our papers that go back to the 80s, we took those archives to the Burnaby archives. But what has happened since the print stopped is that it’s all online, it’s only online.”
Naylor worries and wonders whether Glacier would archive any of the digital content.
“They may just unplug that website and all of those stories since the time we went to digital only.”
Numerous in-depth investigative pieces, revealing crucial information to the public, could be lost forever if Glacier does indeed pull the plug, such as the Burnaby Now’s coverage of the new RCMP facility.
So, why should you donate?
“There’s all the data around the disappearance of local news. Some people call it a threat to our very democracy because an informed electorate is so important when you’re making decisions, and many of those decisions are being made at the local level, and without local news, they’re being made in the dark.”
Naylor used the example of school board stories or things happening in city council meetings.
You should consider donating if you want to help bring local news back to your Metro Vancouver community.
“It’s to stem the bleeding of local news from Canadian communities,” Naylor said.
“Go to the website, sign up as a supporter. Donate and share the campaign on socials, connect with organizations you’re a part of, and spread the news,” she added.
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