Empire-Advance

    It seems that neither Canada Post nor the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) can find enough daggers to plunge into the heart of the Crown Corporation. Canada Post has been on a death spiral for years now and is technically bankrupt. Last fall there was a postal strike, the seventh we have experienced in our newspaper career. The 2024 strike was not settled, and it has erupted again in a work stoppage whereby Canada Post is delivering no mail. Just prior to last week’s work stoppage, CP and CUPW were refusing to carry unaddressed newspapers and flyers. As of Sunday, Sept. 28, there was no mail moving. In fact, companies that had delivered newspapers or flyers to Canada Post would be disappointed that their flyers sat on the shelves in the local post offices undelivered. In fact, there were flyers and newspapers in local post offices, on their shelves or in warehouses that staff were not allowed to carry across the room and place the flyers or allbox newspapers in the mailboxes.

    The situation has become unbearable for flyer distributers and newspapers that are dependent on Canada Post. We are so thankful that over 99 per cent of our three newspapers’ distribution is not reliant on Canada Post.

    I don’t think I have ever dealt with a company (or union) where the upper level management was so intent on committing suicide. As I have said many times, the local postal staff are amazing and I can assure you that the work stoppages and insane rules are driving them crazy. Older postal workers are anxiously waiting for their retirement date and that is so sad.

    As far as newspapers are concerned, there is an often repeated idea that print is dying and that the internet is the way to go. The internet has some real advantages for sure; we use it every day for lots of things. But if print is dying, why are major companies like Home Hardware, Canadian Tire and Princess Auto printing and distributing hundreds of thousands of flyers every week? Why does every grocery store chain have flyers every week? Because it works!

    Print certainly works for these companies that want to tell the world what they have for sale. If print was ineffective, they wouldn’t be spending huge money printing and distributing flyers.

    The reason is simple. Some people like printed products such as newspapers and flyers. They like to have a hard copy. You can set it down and pick it up again for later reference or double checking. Print doesn’t disappear on you, it doesn’t have loud, annoying ads in your face or in your ears. It doesn’t have pop-ups that ambush your internet reading or listening.

    Print is still strong, and I predict it will be even stronger in the future, if for no other reason than that information that comes from a regular print source such as a newspaper is usually both accurate and reliable.

    Let me just share another story about print advertising. A few years ago, a major automaker decided to stop doing newspaper ads. In 2020, their sales dropped over seven per cent. In 2023, over eight and a half per cent and in 2024, over 17 per cent.

    That correlation is more than coincidence, it’s a sales disaster that could be partly remedied by recognizing the value of print. Printed news and advertising is effective.

    In contrast, Canadian Tire does print advertising. Their flyers are often stuffed in newspapers. Their sales have gone up almost 10 per cent per year in recent years.

    I guess there’s a summary conclusion here. The people who say the value of print is diminishing are the very ones who wish it were so. They are the academic geniuses who have pledged their soul to the internet. I believe those people, and even more people in general, are realizing that we can’t get truth, accuracy, accountability and reliability from the internet with the same assurance quality as we can from print. As the old saying goes, “Words aren’t worth the air they are written on, get it in writing”.

    Disclaimer: The views expressed in this column are the writer’s personal views and are not to be taken as being the view of the newspaper staff.