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A short ’n’ sweet one this week, Nexties, as I’ve been hard at work this week on a big feature dropping this Saturday (I’m very excited about this one, it’s an idea I’ve had for a while).
I don’t know if you know this, but today is the Free Press’s 150th anniversary. I’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to be part of an institution that’s older than even this city, and how much covering news has changed in that time.
An archive photo outside the Free Press office. (Winnipeg Free Press files)
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The advent of radio, then television and the 24-hour news cycle, then the internet and the 12-hour news cycle, then social media… it’s an incredible thing to think about.
During the pandemic, this newspaper was both a service and a lifeline for many people and I know this because you told us. We ran a bunch of reader recollections this past weekend, and it was a poignant reminder of how much the Free Press means to so many of you. Sometimes, when you’re in the daily grind of putting a newspaper together, you forget.
I wanted to take some time today to express my gratitude to you, the readers — and in particular, the readers of this newsletter. A writer being able to send their missives, directly and instantly to you, could not have been imagined by the enterprising people who set up a shack on Main Street and rolled out the first edition of the Manitoba Free Press on Nov. 30, 1872. That’s also an incredible thing to think about, when you stop to do so.
I receive so many thoughtful responses to these weekly issues of NEXT, and it tickles me to no end. We are positively awash in correspondence, from email and text messages to that weird, secret inbox of social media DMs. And ooof, I don’t know about you, but between Black Friday and Small Business Saturday and Giving Tuesday, there’s been… too much email this week.
And so, allow me to say: among all the emails crowding your inbox and jockeying for your precious attention, I am so grateful you chose to open this one.
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