Pressing forward

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 29/11/2022 (756 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Subscribers, contributors, supporters, and patrons of the Winnipeg Free Press gathered at the Winnipeg Art Gallery Wednesday night to celebrate the 150th birthday of a newspaper older than the city of Winnipeg itself.

“This event has been a century-and-a-half in the making,” said editor Paul Samyn, who started at the paper as a rookie reporter in 1988.

He is a key part — as was every person in the gallery’s Eckhardt Hall — of a rough draft of history that stretches back to Nov. 30, 1872. On that day, out of a rented shack on Main Street, the first edition of the newspaper was published by people who could not have possibly predicted what they had made would still exist in 2022.

But it is still around. Ever since that first edition, the Free Press has not stopped publishing. Through war, pandemic, war, and pandemic, the presses have continued to roll, and that is something worth celebrating, said Bob Silver, the newspaper’s co-owner.

When he and Ron Stern purchased the newspaper in 2001, Silver — who also serves as the chairman of the company’s board — thought what had just been made was a business decision, and a good deal. He got much more than he bargained for.

“I had no idea how important the Free Press was to the community, and had no idea how important the community was to the Free Press,” Silver told the assembled guests.

At a time when newspapers across the country are contracting, and when the availability of professionally gathered and disseminated news is of paramount importance, Silver issued a vote of confidence to the subscribers gathered at the soirée.

“The board is committed to keeping the paper independent, to keeping it going, keeping it vibrant, keeping it important, keeping it relevant, and keeping it profitable would be part of that as well,” Silver said.

“When Mike Power (FP Newspapers Inc.’s newly appointed CEO and president) was hired by the Free Press, he asked me one question: ‘Are you going to sell to PostMedia?'” Silver told the crowd.

“The answer is never.”

He was met with a round of applause from readers such as Larry Denchuk, 71, who has read the Free Press since he was seven years old, when he leafed through the recaps of Blue Bomber games.

“By eight, I was reading the whole paper,” Denchuk said before the speeches started. “Something about it was magic to me. I could read about all of these places all over the world, and today I am still like that. I love to read the newspaper.”

So do John and Judith Perrin, who after their marriage in August 1974 got themselves a Free Press subscription. Across the table from the Perrins were Chuck Dyck and Kathy Bodnar, each effusive in their praise of the city’s largest independent newspaper.

“Dan Lett is my hero,” Bodnar said, referring to the longtime Free Press reporter and columnist.

Linda Newton grew up reading the newspaper in Dauphin, and when she moved to Winnipeg, started a new routine: each morning, the paper arrives at her doorstep, and then she makes herself a cup of coffee.

She sits and peruses the paper, where she reads and scans columns and the reporting in every section, front to back. A recent column from Shelley Cook made her smile. If the paper doesn’t arrive at her door, Newton wonders if the world has ended.

Vanessa May is a relatively new reader, spurred to get a digital subscription at the start of the pandemic.

“I just thought it was important to stay connected to news — locally, nationally, and internationally,” said May, 36. “It’s a great way to get a snapshot and deep dive as to what’s happening.”

Power — who succeeded longtime publisher Bob Cox in the role earlier this year — told the crowd the Free Press is a partnership between the readers and the newspaper itself.

“The community owns the newspaper,” Power said. “Sure, Bob (Silver) and Ron technically own the newspaper, but really, it’s Winnipeg and Manitoba that owns the Free Press. And the fact that we’re still successful after a few decades of very choppy waters in our business is a testament to their stewardship of the newspaper.

“We’re very fortunate (to reach) 150 years. Why 150 years? We have readers who engage with us on a daily basis. They let us know what they like, what they don’t like, and whether their paper was delivered.”

Samyn understands that job too: as a kid, the current Free Press editor tossed broadsheets from the sidewalks to doorsteps in St. James. Samyn told the crowd that making a newspaper is a group effort, and asked any Free Press staff present to raise their hands before thanking readers once more.

After the speeches concluded, guests were treated to the first look at Headlines: The Art of the News Cycle, an exhibit examining the intersection of art and print media, curated by Riva Symko, the gallery’s head of collections and exhibitions.

“From its founding in 1872 with a single news press, which is upstairs in the show, to its current embrace of the digital age, the Free Press has remained committed to being a trusted, independent news source for information the public can rely upon,” said Symko, wearing a dress fashioned from faux newsprint.

After Symko’s introduction of the exhibit, and before the guests dispersed into the gallery to explore, the Grade 6 class of Madame Lewis at Ecole South Pointe School took to the stage to celebrate a newspaper founded about 140 years before any of them were born.

In a musical soundscape conducted by Amanda Ciavarelli, the students flipped through historical editions of the Free Press, reading aloud from editions published on Nov. 30 from the years 1872, 1922, 1972, and 2022.

The headlines throughout history dealt with budgets and sports, life and death, politics and art — the vitality of a city distilled into 150 years worth of ink, paper and pixels.

With a news carrier’s bag slung over his shoulder, student Yusef Abdelhamid stepped up to the microphone.

“For the past 150 years, the Free Press has been here to tell the stories of our city, province and world,” Abdelhamid said. “Just think. Today’s news will become the history of our generation.”

Read all about it.

ben.waldman@winnipegfreepress.com