The Dominion: Some day its print may come
BY Mason Wright
For at least 30 years, corporate ownership of Canadian newspapers has been enough of a problem that journalists, academics and royal commissions have cried out for a daily newspaper of record that is independently owned and democratic in its operations.
In recent years, that dream has been all but abandoned, but at least one media activist is still trying to realize it. Montreal-based Dru Oja Jay wants his burgeoning news site, The Dominion, to evolve into a progressive national newspaper.
Online since 2003 at dominionpaper.ca and available for printing as a PDF download every two weeks, The Dominion features stories on national and world events that pay particular attention to the work of social movements and give a voice to independent critics of the status quo.
Jay’s twist on the old indie newspaper dream is to gain a foothold on readership and establish journalistic integrity by publishing online first.
“We’ve grown from nothing to a publication with thousands of readers that’s breaking stories in three years, and I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t have had that success without the online component,” Jay says, mentioning a story about Canada’s involvement in the overthrow of former Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide that was cited by CBC’s The Current.
While progressive voices have made a home on the web in recent years, Jay believes print is still a viable and desirable way to reach people. The hardest part of getting his paper up and running, he acknowledges, will be getting the resources to print and distribute it.
“Our plan involves building a readership online and eventually turning that into a distribution network and base of support when we transition to print,” he says. “That transition is the challenge we’re currently up against.”
Until then, Jay is determined to continue covering news from an independent perspective online, growing incrementally and using the web to pursue a decidedly “old media” dream.
