Dear Readers,

When I started my own publishing business in 1995 with the launch of the German-Canadian newspaper Albertaner, there were more than 20 German language newspapers in Canada, including the weekly Kanada Kurier, which was founded in 1889, but now, 30 years later, the Albertaner is the only German-Canadian newspaper. When I arrived in Canada in 1988, there were more than 100 community newspapers in Alberta, and I worked as a reporter for some of them before I started my own. It is sad to see that many of these community newspapers have disappeared or are no longer printed but published only online, like the Mill Woods Mosaic. The main reason for this development is declining advertising in print media. More and more businesses and organizations are spending their advertising dollars on digital platforms like Google, Facebook (Meta), and retail media, and don’t see the value of traditional community newspapers. And many of the remaining newspapers are not locally owned and operated, but belong to big media corporations which are profit-oriented and don’t care much for the smaller communities. But small newspapers are still playing an important role in our communities here in Alberta where people are still asking “What’s new?”

‍Arnim Joop 
Publisher & Editor
mwmosaic@telus.net