Local Journalism Initiative Reporter- Lethbridge Herald
What is the role of a community newspaper in the digital age? Print newspapers in southern Alberta face continuing decline as more readers in Lethbridge and surrounding communities shift to digital news sources for speed and convenience.
Rising production costs and falling print advertising revenue have added pressure on traditional newspaper operations.
Industry observers say print editions are increasingly being repositioned as a niche product, with greater emphasis on local reporting, weekend editions and in-depth coverage, while news organizations invest more heavily in digital platforms.
Print news can still survive in the digital age if they concentrate on hyper-local reporting that cannot be replicated by national or online outlets according to former Lethbridge Herald editor Scott Sakatch.
Speaking at the first Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs (SACPA) meeting of 2026 Thursday, Sakatch said community-focused journalism remains a key strength of print publications even as readership and advertising continue to shift toward digital platforms.
“So we end up with the internet…zero overhead, simple logistics compared to print. It was an absolute shock to the print business model to the point where it’s 25 years later (and) they’re still trying to deal with it,” says Sakatch. “It came on so quickly newspapers did not know what to do with it. They still don’t as far as I’m concerned.”
Print journalism began to feel the effects of the internet in the late 1990s, as newspapers launched websites and audiences increasingly turned to digital sources for news. Early declines in circulation were gradual, and many papers remained profitable during that period.
“When I started in 1997, which was not far from the end of this era, there were 23 full-time people in the newsroom at the Lethbridge Herald. As of today there are five, and I really want everybody to take that in,” he says.
The industry’s most severe losses came in the mid-to-late 2000s when online advertising platforms displaced print classifieds and the 2008 financial crisis further eroded revenue, leading to widespread newsroom cuts and the scaling back of print operations.
Because of this severely reduced staff; the internet; consolidation among wire services and a narrowing of the stories those services cover, Sakatch says the Herald will always be outscooped on breaking provincial and national news as readers turn to digital and broadcast outlets for immediate updates.
In addition to the demands of local coverage, Herald reporters face ongoing challenges accessing federal and provincial politicians. Layers of communications staff and controlled messaging have increasingly limited direct contact with elected officials.
Sakatch says that during his year back at the Herald, he has never met or spoken with Nathan Neudorf, the MLA for Lethbridge-East.
“I have no idea what Nathan Neudorf’s voice sounds like. I’ve never spoken to him. He never came into our office. I’ve had no interaction with him outside of email whatsoever. I’m not going to say whether that’s right or wrong, but it’s a big change from the way that it used to be. We don’t have the same kind of access with the City Council that we used to have,” he says.
Those barriers also extend to the municipal level, where reporters must often navigate gatekeepers to obtain interviews or information, complicating efforts to provide timely and transparent local coverage.
“We don’t jump through hoops for the government, and that is something I would really love to emphasize. The media should not have to jump through hoops to report on what a government is doing. If you are a duly elected government you owe it to the people who put you in office, pay their taxes to pay your salary to give access to information,” says Sakatch.
Many publications that have switched to online-only operations have saved significantly on overhead costs. And If the future of news is destined to be largely digital, Sakatch says he would like to see a tablet- or computer-friendly version of a traditional newspaper — free of the clickbait and pop-ups that often dominate current online news articles.
Meanwhile, the editorial staff at the Lethbridge Herald continue striving to cover the local community despite limited resources and ongoing challenges.
“Please be kind to journalists. They are working very hard for not a lot of money, and they really are trying their best to continue the tradition of newspapers under very trying circumstances,” Sakatch told the SACPA audience in closing.
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