Rural Saskatchewan Heart Beat: Newspapers, Magazines and Online Sources

Gilles Laberge

Journalism in changing. And it is no different in Saskatchewan. While there there are still great physical, print newspapers and magazines you can read, you can also get your news from one of the many online sources too including online news outlets, magazine and blogs.

Here is a selection of my personal favourites.

Newspapers:

A number of Saskatchewan communities lost their local newspapers last year.
South Central Star (Merger of Radville Star/Deep South Star and Coronach Triangle News) closed and published their last issue on November 16th, 2017.

Moose Jaw Times-Herald began as the Moose Jaw Times weekly newspaper all the way back in 1889 and went daily under the name of Evening Times in 1906. The owner-editor of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald was Walter Scott. Scott was also the First premier of Saskatchewan. Former CBC Radio host Peter Gzowski became the city editor in the Spring of 1957 before moving on to a fantastic career that in which his work was featured on and in many of Canada's most succesful outlets.
Star News Publishing acquired the Times-Herald in 2016 and that was when they stopped printing the paper on Mondays. Moose Jaw Times-Herald published their last issue on December 6th, 2017.

The Oxbow-Carnduff Herald-Gazette printed their final edition on Friday, December 22nd, 2017.

The Waterfront Regional Star was created by the merger between Waterfront Press Lumsden and Star Newspaper Emerald Park on September 29th, 2017. Waterfront Press had served the Lumsden, Craven and Southey area for around 40 years. The Waterfront Regional Star officially closed their doors on December 19th, 2017 and published their final edition on December 22nd, 2017.

Alas, there are still a number of healthy rural newspapers that reach readers across the province through their physical newspaper and through their websites.

The Assiniboia Times is a free weekly newspaper that serves the Assiniboia Area and is published on Fridays. It was first published in 1912. Check out their website at www.assiniboiatimes.ca.

The Davidson Leader serves the Davidson Area and is published on Mondays. The newspaper was first published in 1904 and has been going strong since. Midway Flowers is also located in the Davidson Leader building. The Davidson Leader is available at these fine retailers: Davidson: Stedmans, Shell, Riverbend Co-op Gas Bar and Food Store, The Davidson Leader; Craik: Palliser Plains Co-op Food Store and Kenaston: KC Distributors. Check out their website at www.leaderonline.ca.

Moosomin is home to two newspapers including the Moosomin World-Spectator & The Plain and Valley. Moosomin World-Spectator is a weekly newspaper that was first published in 1884 and is distributed on Mondays. Plain & Valley is a regional newspaper distributed for free once a month to 27,500 households in SE Saskatchewan and SW Manitoba. Check out their websites at www.world-spectator.com and www.plainandvalley.com.

The Last Mountain Times is a weekly newspaper based in Nokomis and Strasbourg. The newspaper has been published continuously since 1908 starting under the name of Nokomis Times. Last Mountain Times expanded to include the Lumsden and Regina Beach area due to the loss of their local newspaper. Last Mountain Times is printed at Star Press in Wainwright, Alberta. The first issue of the expanded newspaper was out on January 15th, 2018, and it is now a free weekly newspaper that is distributed on Mondays. Check out their website at www.lmtimes.ca.

The Watrous Manitou (TWM) weekly newspaper was first published on February 9th, 1933. The Watrous Manitou is a weekly newspaper published 48 times per year and serves the Watrous and Manitou Beach area. The paper is distributed every Monday except for two weeks in the summer and two weeks during winter. Their online version is available Friday afternoons and their print edition is out on Mondays. The newspaper is printed in Wainwright, Alberta.

Magazines:

There are some interesting magazines across the province including PINK Magazine for Sask Women and Refined, Moose Jaw's very own ladies magazine. As well, there is Sunny & Bright: Saskatchewan's Local Summer Guide.

PINK Magazine for Sask Women

PINK Magazine for Saskatchewan Women showcases Saskatchewan women in their monthly publication. It is published by Compass Advertising Ltd and distributed free on stands across Saskatchewan. Jess Moskaluke (Musician - September 2014 Issue) and Ashlyn George (2015 Saskatchewanderer - August 2015 Issue) as well as Laura Hamilton (Moose Jaw Artist - February 2016) have been showcased in the past.
You can find your free copy of the magazine on stands in the exit entrances at Rona (769 Thatcher Drive East) and Moose Jaw Co-op Marketplace (500 - 1st Avenue NW) and Real Canadian Superstore (30 Thatcher Drive East) in Moose Jaw. You can check out current and past issues on their website at www.pinkmagazine.ca.

Sunny and Bright
Sunny & Bright: Saskatchewan's Local Summer Guide is pretty fresh. Volume 1, Issue 1 came out in the Spring of 2018 and showcases the cities of Prince Albert, Regina, Moose Jaw, Swift Current, Yorkton as well as Southeast Saskatchewan in the magazine. The magazine is published by Industry West Publishing. You can pick up your free copy of the magazine at Yvette Moore Art Gallery (76 Fairford Street West) and Tourism Moose Jaw (50 Diefenbaker Drive) in Moose Jaw and Big Beaver Apparel/Aust's General Store (Big Beaver, Saskatchewan). Check out their website.

Blogs, Facebook and Websites:

There are some writers and journalists who choose to publish their articles online through their own blogs, social media accounts and websites and some of these journalists are excellent.

Ashlyn George, The Lost Girl's Guide to Finding the World

The Lost Girl's Guide to Finding the World
Ashlyn George launched "The Lost Girl's Guide to Finding the World" in September 2013. The was before she became the Saskatchewanderer in 2015 and got to travel around the province for the whole year as the official ambassador, personality and travel blogger of this great province. She has travelled around the world and visited 55 different countries. She has also set foot on all 7 continents. Ashlyn visited Moose Jaw, where she flew in a military jet with the Canadian Forces Snowbirds in (2015). She's also spent time in Duck Mountain Provincial Park (Saskatchewan), Anglin Lake (Saskatchewan), on the East Coast of Canada, Northern Arizona (USA), Iceland, El Salvador, Columbia, Malaysia and Greece among many other exciting destination. Currently, she works as an award-winning digital content creator and freelancer while still continuing to travel the world. Check out her photos and her amazing travel stories on her website at http://www.thelostgirlsguide.com/.

Rural Saskatchewan Heart Beat
I am Gilles Laberge, and I started my newsmagazine page on Facebook in November 2013 to promote arts, culture and rural events. My page has since expanded to include more day to day news from across Saskatchewan & more nature and environment-related posts. I love promoting Rural Saskatchewan, and I try to attend some rural events, so I can write a follow-up story about the event.
Check out my Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ruralsaskheartbeat.