🌼 Welcome to the spring edition of Village Bulletin 🌼
In our latest monthly update, we'll share highlights from April, including award nominations, launch events and new site announcements.
Happy reading and here's to a season filled with growth and prosperity!
Village moves 💫
In April, we welcomed BurlingtonToday’s new reporter Calum O’Malley to the team!
Congratulations! 👏
SPACES looks to change how we connect on the local level 🤝
For years, we have been working on an ambitious experiment in revolutionizing how we all connect - by offering people a local, community-powered social network.
SPACES aims to revive the lost art of meaningful local engagement, in a safe and moderated environment, hosted by our professional journalists and local experts.
Whether you are passionate about gardening, junior hockey, live music, the latest council decision or your neighbourhood updates, we have a space for you. A civil and constructive space for exchanging ideas, asking advice and gaining valuable information about the communities we live in.
Creating a deeper community connection on SPACES is as easy as finding your interest and joining your space. Join the waitlist today and be the first to know when we launch in your community!
AuroraToday.ca launches in May 🎊
Our coverage of the York region is expanding with the addition of AuroraToday.ca to the Village Media network.
AuroraToday will be led by neighbouring sister-site NewmarketToday’s editor Debora Kelly. Reporter Bailey Moreton joins Debora to cover the Aurora community and NewmarketToday’s Kelsy Chapman, with support from regional publisher John Hammill, will continue on building the community partnerships in the area with the new site.
AuroraToday launches on May 28, 2024.
Awards season is heating up for our Village 🏆
The Local Media Association has started to roll out their announcements for this year's Digital Innovation Award winners - and we are among the first winners unveiled for this year’s awards program!
Village Media won 3rd place for Best Audience or Engagement Strategy for Village IQ, our custom-built polling engine, which allows us to capture valuable reader opinions and use that data to provide them with a richer, more meaningful on-site experience.
Congratulations all! 🎉
The Canadian Journalism Foundation recently announced its shortlists for the CJF Jackman Awards for Excellence in Journalism, honouring news organizations that embody exemplary journalism and have a profound positive impact on the communities they serve. Finalists are recognized in two categories: large and small media.
The Trillium’s Jessica Smith Cross, Charlie Pinkerton and Jack Hauen are finalists for the Jackman Award for Excellence in Journalism in the small media category for a series on the influence of land developers in Ontario politics. Articles in the series contributed to the government’s decision to reverse its decision to open the Greenbelt to developers; showed the outcome of the Ontario government’s close relationship with developers, and used data to investigate the extent of developers’ largesse in Greater Toronto Area municipal politics.
Winners will be announced on June 12.
And the awards news isn’t done yet! The Trillium's Jessica Smith Cross and Village Media’s Patrick Cain were nominated for a Digital Publishing Award in the Best Data Journalism category for The Trillium's coverage: Who Olivia Chow won and lost in Toronto.
Winners for the Digital Publishing Awards will be announced on June 7.
Good luck!
MiltonToday and Oakville News meet our readers for coffee ☕
A total eclipse of coverage
Our reporters from around the Village network did a bang-up job of covering the excitement of the recent solar eclipse.
Spotted around the Village 🌎
✨ Spotlight on sponsorships ✨
We sponsored 20 community initiatives in April, including:
BarrieToday
Fresh Food Weekly, Big Brothers Big Sisters Barrie & District
BayToday
Nipissing Serenity Hospice
BurlingtonToday
Rotary Club Burlington North
CambridgeToday
Big Brothers Big Sisters Waterloo Region, Benefit shows
EloraFergusToday
Elora Singers - Elora Festival
FlamboroughToday
Living Rock Youth Ministries, Healthy Youth Network - Flamborough Paint Challenge, Down Syndrome Association of Hamilton
GuelphToday
Griefwalk, The Nightingale Centre
Network Wide:
CambridgeToday, GuelphToday, EloraFergusToday, Niagara-On-The-Lake Local, ThoroldToday, PelhamToday, HaltonHillsToday, MiltonToday, Oakville News, BarrieToday, InnisfilToday, OrilliaMatters, BayToday, Sudbury.com, SooToday, FlamboroughToday, StratfordToday
Benefit Shows
OakvilleNews, BurlingtonToday, MiltonToday, FlamboroughToday, HaltonHillsToday
VR Pro races
NewmarketToday
Hike for Hospice, York Region Food Network
OakvilleNews
Oakville Festivals of Film and Art
OrilliaMatters
Kiwanis Club
SooToday
Northland Barbershop Chorus Annual Show
Sudbury.com
Defeat Depression
TimminsToday
Anangokaa Festival
Village Media
MS Walk
There are 15 open positions within our Village 👀
We are looking for reporters, editors and someone to help us launch SPACES.ca. Check out the postings today to see if you know someone who may be a fit!
Pawesome Villager of the month 🐾
Meet Fred! 🐱
Here the 19-year-old kitty is pictured asleep in his favourite bed - a 19th century doll crib - with his bear, of course.
Proud pet parent: Kevin Lamb
Until next month!
