Village Media
Headquarters | 298 Queen Street East Sault Ste. Marie, ON P6A 1Y7 |
---|---|
Website | villagemedia |
Village Media is a Canadian media company, which operates a number of hyperlocal online news and community websites throughout Ontario.[1]
Village Media's news sites focus on providing local stories written by local journalists in the communities that they serve.[2] In addition to local news, the sites offer weather, events, obituaries, and a wide range of community information. Village Media is known for supporting local events and charitable causes.
The company also maintains content and marketing partnerships with community newspapers in several other Ontario cities, including TBNewswatch.com in Thunder Bay and Manitoulin.ca on Manitoulin Island. Village Media was also a partner with the defunct LocalXpress in Halifax, providing them with the publication platform.
History
SooToday.com was originally launched in 2000 as a regional tabloid shopping and business directory,[3] owned by former broadcaster Dick Peplow.
Following significant news cutbacks at MCTV, which merged all of the region's local television newscasts into a single regional program produced in Sudbury, SooToday began producing locally focused news content. In doing so, they became one of the first prominent Canadian ventures in hyperlocal web-only media.[3] Peplow launched sister site BayToday.ca in 2003.[3]
Following Peplow's death in 2007,[4] local IT consultant Jeff Elgie, formerly a minority investor in the site, increased his ownership stake, and eventually became CEO.
Inspired by the SooToday.com model, a different company launched TimminsToday.com, which was acquired by Village Media in 2014.[5]
The company's recent expansion efforts have concentrated on midsized cities in Southern Ontario, typically launching soon after the closure of the community's prior daily newspaper.[6] It launched BarrieToday.com in October 2015 in Barrie, GuelphToday.com in February 2016 in Guelph,[7] and OrilliaMatters.com in Orillia in 2018.[6]
Village Media also operated HalifaxToday.ca in Halifax,[8] OttawaMatters.com in Ottawa[9] and KitchenerToday.com in Kitchener,[10] in conjunction with Rogers Radio-owned news radio stations in those markets, although all have since been converted to the Rogers-owned CityNews brand.
In 2020, the company acquired the assets of Laurentian Media Group, including the Sudbury.com news website and the business magazine Northern Ontario Business.[11] Village Media ceased publication of Laurentian's twice-weekly print newspaper Northern Life while retaining the Sudbury.com web edition.
In early 2021, the company expanded into the United States for the first time, with the acquisition of The Longmont Leader in Longmont, Colorado.[12] The news website was shuttered in 2024.[13]
The company formerly operated the video news portal local2.ca in Sault Ste. Marie, and the VM Radio network of internet radio streams.[1] Local2 was fully integrated into SooToday.[14] VM Radio was shut down.
Assets owned by Village Media
Ontario
- Aurora Today — Aurora
- Barrie Today — Barrie
- Bay Today — North Bay
- Bradford Today — Bradford
- Burlington Today — Burlington
- Cambridge Today — Cambridge
- Collingwood Today — Collingwood
- Elliot Lake Today — Elliot Lake
- Elora Fergus Today — Centre Wellington
- Flamborough Today — Flamborough
- Guelph Today — Guelph
- Halton Hills Today — Halton Hills
- Innisfil Today — Innisfil
- Midland Today — Midland
- Milton Today — Milton
- Newmarket Today — Newmarket
- Niagara on the Lake Local — Niagara-on-the-Lake
- Oakville News — Oakville
- Orillia Matters — Orillia
- Pelham Today — Pelham
- Soo Today — Sault Ste. Marie
- Stratford Today — Stratford
- Sudbury.com — Sudbury
- Thorold Today — Thorold
- Timmins Today — Timmins
International
- Alimosho Today — Alimosho, Nigeria
- Soo Leader — Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan
Specialty publications
- Northern Ontario Business: Business news in the Northern Ontario region.
- The Trillium: Reportage on Ontario provincial politics.
- Village Report: National news portal comprising reportage from other Village Media titles and Canadian Press.
- Village Life: Lifestyle news.
References
- ^ a b "Media outlets partner to expand Northern news network". Northern Ontario Business, October 2, 2014.
- ^ "Taking a village to build a news network". Northern Ontario Business, April 2018.
- ^ a b c "Sootoday.com a hit". Northern Ontario Business, April 1, 2004.
- ^ "Peplow left a legacy". Northern News Services, July 18, 2007.
- ^ "Timmins Today sold". 93.1 Moose FM, May 15, 2014.
- ^ a b "Village Media expands to Orillia". Northern Life, January 4, 2018.
- ^ "Village Media rushes to fill local news void left by Guelph Mercury". The Globe and Mail, February 7, 2016.
- ^ "Rogers zeroes in on hyper-local in Halifax". Media in Canada, October 17, 2017.
- ^ "Village Media expands Rogers partnership to Ottawa". Media in Canada, March 5, 2018.
- ^ "Village Media extends Rogers relationship to Kitchener". Media in Canada, June 21, 2018.
- ^ "Sudbury.com sold to Village Media, Northern Life to print last edition on March 26". Sudbury Star, March 20, 2020.
- ^ Ken Amundson, "Longmont news startup changes hands". Longmont Times-Call, February 5, 2021.
- ^ Hutchins, Corey (2024-06-06). "Longmont Leader news site closes: 'A day I hoped would never come'". Inside the News in Colorado. Retrieved 2024-06-06.
- ^ "SooToday will now be home to all the great programming from LOCAL2". Soo Today, April 8, 2016.
External links
- Official website
- v
- t
- e
- Neighbourhoods
- Root River
- St. Marys River
- Whitefish Island
- Sault Ste. Marie (federal riding)
- Sault Ste. Marie (provincial riding)
- Sault Ste. Marie City Council
- List of mayors
- 49th Field Artillery Regiment, RCA
- Algoma Treatment and Remand Centre
- Children of Shingwauk Alumni Association
- Engracia de Jesus Matias Archives and Special Collections
- Great Lakes Forestry Centre
- Ontario Forest Research Institute
- Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation
- Sault Area Hospital
- Sault Symphony Orchestra
- Shingwauk Residential Schools Centre
- Algoma Ink
- CBON-FM
- CBSM-FM
- CFYM-AM
- CHAS-FM
- CHBX-TV
- CHIM-FM
- CJIC-AM
- CJIC-TV
- CJQM-FM
- CJTK-FM
- CKCY-AM
- Films
- Huron Broadcasting
- The Sault Star
- Sault This Week
- Village Media
Post-secondary | |
---|---|
School boards | |
Secondary schools |
|
- Agawa Canyon Tour Train
- Art Gallery of Algoma
- Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre
- Entomica Insectarium
- Ermatinger Clergue National Historic Site
- Gateway Casinos Sault Ste. Marie
- MS Norgoma
- Sault Ste. Marie Canal National Historic Site
- Sault Ste. Marie Museum
- Sault Ste. Marie Walk of Fame
- Shingwauk Hall National Historic Site
- Station Mall
- Voyageur Hiking Trail
- Waterfront Trail
- Whitefish Island National Historic Site
- Windsor Park Hotel
Events |
---|
- Algoma Central Railway
- MV Algorail
- Gros Cap Reefs Light
- Huron Central Railway
- Ontario Highway 17
- Ontario Highway 17B
- Ontario Secondary Highway 550
- Sault Canal Emergency Swing Dam
- HMCS Sault Ste. Marie
- Sault Ste. Marie Airport
- Sault Ste. Marie Bridge Company
- Sault Ste. Marie Canal
- Sault Ste. Marie Heliport
- Sault Ste. Marie International Bridge
- Sault Ste. Marie International Railroad Bridge
- Sault Ste. Marie/Partridge Point Water Aerodrome
- Sault Ste. Marie station
- Sault Ste. Marie Transit Services
- Sault Ste. Marie Water Aerodrome