Talks are under way to bring the oldest daily newspaper in Western Canada, the Times Colonist, under local ownership in Victoria after more than 75 years outside the provincial capital.
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Ownership talks are underway for the Times Colonist, with advertising director Ed Kennedy saying the newspaper’s parent company has agreed to sell the masthead and is working with a group of local investors to buy it.
Kennedy said the Times Colonist is owned by Lodestar Media, the media division of Glacier Media, which purchased the paper in 2011. In a message to readers, he said there is now a chance to return the paper to local ownership after it has been owned by companies outside Victoria for more than 75 years.
He described the Times Colonist as “part of Vancouver Island for almost 168 years” and as the oldest operational business in B.C. Kennedy also said the paper reaches a quarter of a million households every week.
Kennedy said the Times Colonist was created in 1980 through the merger of the British Colonist, founded in 1858 by Amor De Cosmos who later became British Columbia’s second premier, and the Victoria Daily Times, which began publishing in 1884.
He added that “there are still many details to work through before the sale can be completed,” and said the paper will keep readers informed as the process progresses.
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