Northern News Services (NNSL), the NWT’s only English-language newspaper publisher, will not produce print copies until further notice, the company announced on Monday.
Calling the move a “difficult decision,” the company – and Canarctic Graphics, which performs the printing – said its “number one concern … is for the well-being of our staff and the public.”
In a statement on its website, NNSL said: “Just too many people are required to be in one place to put together a newspaper. Now that Covid-19 has been detected in the Northwest Territories, continuing with print operations is simply not possible.”
The publisher said newsprint was “increasingly difficult” to ship into Yellowknife with suppliers focusing on medical items and food.
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The decision affects six newspapers: News/North, Nunavut News, Hay River Hub, Inuvik Drum, Kivalliq News, and Yellowknifer.
PDF copies of those newspapers will be provided free of charge on the company’s website instead.
Last year, NNSL dropped its longstanding paywall and began making most of its online news articles available for free. However, until Monday, PDF copies of its newspapers were available only to paying subscribers.
Correction: March 23, 2020 – 12:10 MT. This article initially referred to NNSL as the territory’s only newspaper publisher. That is not the case. L’Aquilon publishes in French. We regret the error and have updated this report accordingly.
