The initiative is a response to Glacier Media’s shuttering of the Tri-City News, Burnaby Now, and the New West Record in April and May – three long-standing papers serving a population of around 600,000 people.

The first phase of the fundraising campaign has now officially launched, aiming to create a single worker-run, community-owned publication for readers in Burnaby, New Westminster, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Anmore and Belcarra. It has a goal of raising $100,000

UCI, a non-profit specializing in building co-op organizations, and Unifor, which represented the journalists while they were employed at Glacier, have partnered to support the project.

Cornelia Naylor, a former education reporter at Burnaby Now, said the loss of coverage is already affecting civic engagement. Last week, the Burnaby school board approved $3.3 million in budget cuts – but no local media were there to report on it.

Bartel echoed that sentiment, citing data from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. He noted nearly 2.5 million Canadians now have no source of local news, 25 print publications are being lost every year and newsrooms are being cut to “skeletal levels” so owners can maintain their profits.

To kickstart the effort, Unifor announced a $5,000 contribution, while UCI revealed the campaign had already hit 10 percent of its goal within minutes of the launch.

“We’re not going to have to worry about American owners pulling out funding,” Sopotiuk said. “This is going to be a community-owned, community-focused, community-accountable news organization that’s run by workers.”

Sopotiuk said the public should expect to see “an army” of volunteers and organizations raising awareness about the campaign, knocking on doors and visiting businesses in the coming months.

He added further fundraising and ad campaigns are incoming, and the group has already started planning for the return of a physical paper alongside online news.